EDITOR'S NOTE: The following editorial was published in today's El Dorado News-Times.
Do you own mineral rights on any property in Arkansas? If so, you need to know what our state government is up to.
It looks like the state of Arkansas wants to limit the public's access to warnings that the mineral rights they own are in jeopardy.
On Wednesday, the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee fast-tracked a bill that may do just that. The bill now under consideration is known as Senate Bill 114.
In the past, notifications of delinquent taxes on mineral rights have been published in newspapers serving the areas where holders of such rights might be affected. If approved, SB 114 would change all that.
Senate Bill 114 would move those notices out of newspapers and onto a website that may be run by a third party that would have to be searched periodically for any notice of delinquent taxes on owners of mineral rights.
The bill must now clear a hurdle on the Revenue and Taxation Committee on the House side before coming up for a vote. If it passes, things will change dramatically in terms of your notice of delinquency on any mineral rights you may own in the state.
Here are some very good reasons why we do not need this bill:
1. Public notices in newspapers have been ensuring government transparency since the founding days of this country.
2. Newspapers remain the most cost effective means of government letting the public know what they're doing with their tax money.
3. Newspapers provide a permanent archive of these public notices that cannot be assured on any website.
4. Public notices in Arkansas are already posted online at http://www.publicnoticeads.com/AR and at no cost to government at any level. They are also posted on most newspaper websites, as well.
5. Posting public notices online ONLY on a state-approved website disenfranchises a huge percentage of Arkansas residents who either cannot afford or have no access to the internet. Not to mention that there are some people who simply will not use computers.
6. Websites are not secure repositories for public notices as they are vulnerable to hackers. There are plenty of examples of this at the Pentagon, at Sony, the U.S. Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service, Verizon, Target and others who thought their web presence was secure. What would prevent a hacker from even changing or eliminating information on a state-approved website?
You may want to contact your senator or representative and let them know how you feel about such a move as what they are proposing.
Editorial on 01/20/2017