Sun, Nov 23, 2008

Business

Loophole puts home-related measures on AZ ballot

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.09.2008
PHOENIX — A ballot proposition requiring warranties on all new homes and a separate measure blocking taxes on home and property sales were certified Friday as being qualified for the ballot — even though it's not clear either one has enough signatures.
Figures from the Secretary of State's Office show that a measure designed to block the state from ever taxing the sale of homes and other property has fewer than 227,000 valid signatures, short of the 230,047 legally required to put a proposed constitutional amendment before voters in November. That is based on a check of 5 percent of the petitions submitted.
State law spells out that there must be a full check of all names for any measure where the random sample shows a validity rate of between 95 percent and 105 percent.
But Secretary of State Jan Brewer said the recorders from several counties — the officials who keep the voter registration records — have said they do not have the time to complete such a search before the deadline for printing ballots. And she said that a 1983 court ruling spells out that when there is any doubt about whether a measure qualifies for the ballot, election officials should err on the side of putting it before voters.
That means Proposition 100 will be on the ballot.
Brewer said, however, it's not a decision she likes.
"I have always been of the belief that a citizen initiative that comes in below the signature requirements provided by law (should) be disqualified," she said in a prepared statement. But Brewer said she has to comply with court precedent.
"I guess 98 percent really means 100 percent according to our legal system," she said.
Proposition 100 is being pushed by the Arizona Association of Realtors in an effort to constitutionally bar any future laws that seek to tax the sale or transfer of property.
There is no such levy now. But Tom Farley, lobbyist for the organization, said the idea has been discussed in the past as one way to increase state revenues — or at least lower the state's 5.6 percent sales-tax rate by taxing more transactions.
Brewer also certified the home-warranty measure even though that one also might not have enough signatures.
The random check of signatures for Proposition 201 showed it would have 161,004 valid signatures. That is more than the 153,365 necessary for petition drives that propose to change state statutes. But it is less than the 105 percent of that figure — the point at which state law presumes there are sufficient valid signatures.
But here, too, Brewer said the inability of counties to do name-by-name checks on time means the measure will be on the ballot.
The key feature of Proposition 201 would require a 10-year warranty on all new homes.
The measure, if approved in November, would allow homeowners to help choose the contractors hired by the builders to make the repairs, give buyers the right to cancel within 100 days and get back most of their deposit, and homeowners sue without fear of having to pay a builder's legal fees if they lose.
It also would require that model homes be outfitted exactly the way they would look for the purchase price advertised or have a price tag on each of the non-standard items.
Six measures are certified for the ballot; one has been disqualified due to lack of signatures. But backers of that measure, to constitutionally bar the state from enacting laws requiring people to enroll in health insurance programs, are going to court to try to prove there are sufficient valid names.
Four other measures await verification, including one that asks voters to hike that 5.6 percent state sales tax to 6.6 percent to pay for new roads and other transit projects.