Voters to Decide on Four Constitutional Amendments in November

In addition to local referendums, voters in Franklin and Hart counties will decide on four Constitutional amendments this election.

The first is an amendment that would prohibit statewide elected officials and members of the General Assembly from being paid after they have been indicted for a felony and suspended from office.

After Gov. Brian Kemp suspended then-state Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck in 2019 following Beck’s indictment for fraud and money laundering, he continued collecting his annual taxpayer-funded salary of $195,000.

That would end if Georgia voters approve a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

Supporters say amending the state Constitution to prevent indicted elected officials from collecting salaries while awaiting trial would close a glaring loophole in state law.

A second proposed constitutional amendment would allow cities, counties, and local school districts to temporarily exempt disaster victims from paying property taxes.

The amendment would let local governments and school boards grant temporary tax relief to owners of properties that have been severely damaged or destroyed by a disaster and are located within a nationally declared disaster area.

The third proposal Georgia voters will decide on is a ballot question that would exempt from state property taxes equipment used in the timber industry.

Georgia ranks as the No.-1 forestry state in the nation, tops in commercially available timberland with 22 million acres, tops in the volume of timber harvested each year, and tops in forest product exports with an estimated annual trade value of $3.9 billion, according to the Georgia Forestry Association.

The tax exemption would include not only the heavy equipment used to harvest timber but also the tractors used in planting trees for reforestation, said Matt Hestad, vice president of engagement for the forestry association.

The fourth and final question on the ballot would expand an existing property tax exemption for agricultural equipment by applying it to equipment shared by two or more family farms.

The ballot question also would add dairy products and unfertilized poultry eggs to the tax exemption.

Early voting begins Monday, October 17, and runs through Friday, November 4.

Election day is Tuesday, November 8.

The last day to register to vote is October 11.