11 Proposed Constitutional Amendments To Be Decided

CLIFTON — Residents of the City of Clifton will visit the polls next Tuesday to decide whether the city will allow the sale of all alcoholic beverages within its city limits.

Voters statewide will decide the fate of 11 proposed state constitutional amendments.

The wet/dry election was established after petitioners successfully collected enough verified signatures to insure that the local option proposition would appear on a Clifton ballot. Several cities in Bosque County currently allow the sale of alcoholic beverages. On May 12, 2007, Clifton voters rejected a similar proposition by two votes, 284-282. During that election, 27.04 percent of the registered 2,028 Clifton residents cast ballots.

Polling in the wet/dry election will involve Precincts #9 and #10, consisting of Clifton city residents only, at Clifton Civic Center, 403 W. 3rd St., from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.

In the constitutional amendment election, Clifton voters will be split on location, with voters in Precinct #9 voting at Clifton Civic Center and voters in Precinct. #10 voting at Valley Mills Old City Hall, in Valley Mills.

Bosque County Commissioners combined the county’s precinct boxes for the amendment election, to include only four voting sites.

Bosque County voters may match the precinct number on their orange voter registration card with this list to determine where to vote:

• Commissioner Prec. #1 — Steiner (Steele Creek) New Fire Station – 1336 FM 1713, Morgan — Includes voter precincts #5 (Meridian Civic Center), #6 (Kopperl Fire Station), #12 (Steele Creek Acres) and #13 (West Shore Community Center).

• Commissioner Prec. #2 — Meridian Fire Station – 110 Bateman Street, Meridian — Includes voter precincts #1 (Iredell City Hall), #2 (Walnut Springs City Hall), #3  (Morgan Community Center) and #4 (Meridian Fire Station).

• Commissioner Prec. #3  — Valley Mills Old City Hall – 107 South 4th Street, Valley Mills — Includes voter precincts #10 (Clifton Civic Center), #11(Womack Church), #14 (Mosheim Community Center), #15 (Valley Mills Old City Hall) and #16 (Cayote Community Center).

• Commissioner Prec. #4 — Clifton Civic Center – 403 West Third Street, Clifton — Includes voter precincts #7 (Cranfills Gap Community Center), #8 (Norse Our Saviors Church) and #9 (Clifton Civic Center).

Text of the proposed state constitutional amendments follows:

• Proposition 1 — The constructional amendment authorizing the financing, including through tax increment financing, of the acquisition by municipalities and counties of buffer area or open spaces adjacent to a military installation for the prevention of encrouchment or the construction of roadways, utilities, or other infrastructure to protect or promote the mission of the military installation.

• Proposition 2 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the ad valorem taxation of a residence homestead solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence homestead.

• Proposition 3 — The constitutional amendment providing for uniform standards and procedures for the appraisal of property for ad valorem tax purposes.

• Proposition 4 — The constitutional amendment establishing the national research university fund to enable emerging research universities in this state to achieve national prominence as major research universities and transferring the balance of the higher education fund to the national research university fund.

• Proposition 5 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to authorize a single board of equalization for two or more adjoining appraisal entities that elect to provide for consolidated equalizations.

• Proposition 6 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the Veterans’ Land Board to issue general obligation bonds in amounts equal to or less than amounts previously authorized.

• Proposition 7 — The constitutional amendment to allow an officer or enlisted member of the Texas State Guard or other state militia or military force to hold other civil offices.

• Proposition 8 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the state to contribute money, property, and other resources for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of veterans’ hospitals in this state.

• Proposition 9 — The constitutional amendment to protect the right of the public, individually and collectively, to access and use the public beaches bordering the seaward shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

• Proposition 10 — The constitutional amendment to provide that elected members of the governing boards of emergency service districts may serve terms not to exceed four years.

• Proposition 11 — The constitutional amendment to prohibit the taking, damaging, or destroying of private property for public use unless the action is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property by the State, a political subdivision of the State, the public at large, or entities granted the power of eminent domain under law or for the elimination of urban blight on a particular parcel of property, but not for certain economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes, and to limit the legislature’s authority to grant the power of eminent domain to an entity?