Election Information - Go Vote!

Good Morning!  There's an election going on!  Early voting started Monday - did you know?  There's an easy way to see the ballot - it appears the county is saving money on sample ballots for the voting areas - go to http://vote411.org/ballot, put in your address and you will see all of the propositions you are eligible to vote on.  That's the way to get your personalized ballot.

This year, there are new voting machines and procedures for voting.  There is actually a paper ballot - you will get a code and ballot, slide it into a voting booth, make your choices and then verify and take the printed ballot to another machine that you will slide it into.  It sounds complex, but is really pretty easy and there are folks to help if needed.  I will be one of them on election day - I have volunteered to be a Judge at the Lakeway Randall's location.

Personally, and I expect all that are in Lakeway, will have 11 races to vote on.

1. Prop 1, Municipal Judges - basically allows Municipal Judges to serve in more than one municipality.  
2. Prop 2, Water Projects in Distressed Areas - would allow the Water Development Board to issue general obligation bonds (not to exceed $200 million) to develop water supply and sewer projects in economically depressed areas of the state.
3. Prop 3, Tax Relief for Disaster Areas - Proposition 3 would allow the Texas Legislature to give a temporary property tax exemption in a governor-declared disaster area. The exemption would be 15%, 30%, 60%, or 100%, depending on the amount of property damage. 
4. Prop 4, Personal Income Tax - Proposition 4 would prohibit the Texas Legislature from establishing a personal state income tax.
5. Prop 5, Sporting Goods Taxes to Support State Parks - Proposition 5 would require the Legislature to allocate the money raised from state sales taxes on sporting goods (i.e., hunting, fishing, outdoor equipment) to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Texas Historical Commission (THC). Revenue from such taxes would be used to improve and manage state and local parks and historic sites, and to acquire new sites.
6. Cancer Prevention Research - The proposed amendment would increase the maximum bond amount for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) from $3 billion to $6 billion. CPRIT provides grants and supports programs that advance cancer research. The organization, begun in 2007, is currently set up to receive $3 billion in funding until 2022.
7. Funding Public Education - The School Land Board, an independent entity of the General Land Office, oversees the management, sale and leasing of more than 13 million acres of land for the Permanent School Fund. The State Board of Education can then make distributions from this fund to the Available School Fund. The revenue generated from the land is used to purchase real estate and make investments to help fund public education through the Available School Fund.
   
   This proposition would increase from $300 million to $600 million the amount the General Land Office could distribute to the Available School Fund each year.
8. Flood Control - Proposition 8 would create the Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) as a special fund outside of general revenue. A one-time distribution from the Economic Stabilization Fund, also known as the "rainy day fund," would establish the FIF. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) would distribute FIF funds to local governments through loans or, in some cases, as grants. The money would be used to establish and maintain flood control structures and drainage infrastructure throughout the state, especially in economically distressed areas.
9. Tax exemption of Precious Metals - Texas opened a precious metals depository in 2018, run by a private company but overseen by the state government. The Constitution requires all real and tangible personal property to be taxed on its value unless exempted. These ad valorem (property) taxes are imposed at the time of purchase or exchange of precious metals. Proposition 9 would exempt from taxation precious metals held in a precious metal depository in the state.
10. Law Enforcement Animals - Proposition 10 would allow law enforcement animals to retire, and their former handlers or other qualified caretakers to adopt them with no fee. Law enforcement animals are currently considered as surplus property of the county, which means the county can only auction, donate, or destroy them. Proposition 10 would change the property laws to allow the animals to retire and be transferred to their original handler or another qualified caretaker with no adoption fee.
11. Travis County Prop A: Exposition Center - In August 2019, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved a November 2019 election to ask the voters if the county should charge a new hotel occupancy tax. This tax is not to exceed 2% of a hotel room price, and the maximum hotel occupancy tax rate that includes all state and local taxes would remain 17% of the hotel room price. The 2% hotel occupancy tax revenue would be used to fund the expansion of the Travis County Exposition Center.
    
    If passed, Proposition A will allow Travis County to collect this hotel occupancy tax from hotels in Travis County outside the City of Austin. Currently, hotels in the City of Austin are already charged the state allowed maximum hotel occupancy tax which was passed by City of Austin voters in 1998 to pay for the Austin Convention Center. When the convention center is paid off, the county may be able to charge and receive hotel occupancy tax revenue from hotels within the City of Austin.

There is lot's more data on the vote411.org website - this is just a short summary of what is there - most copied directly from the site.

That's all for right now - just trying to make it easier to go and vote - only about 180 had voted yesterday (Tuesday, second day of voting) in Lakeway.

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us