Madison Parish

Shall the Madison Parish School District (Parish Wide), State of Louisiana (the "District") incur debt and issue bonds in the amount of Eighteen Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($18,500,000) to run twenty-five (25) years from date thereof, with interest at a rate or rates not exceeding eight per centum (8%) per annum, for the purpose of acquiring and/or improving lands for building sites and playgrounds, including construction of necessary sidewalks and streets adjacent thereto; purchasing, erecting and/or improving school buildings and other school related facilities within and for the District and acquiring the necessary equipment and furnishings therefore, title to which shall be in the public; which bonds will be general obligations of the District and will be payable from ad valorem taxes to be levied and collected in the manner provided by Article VI, Section 33 of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana of 1974 and statutory authority supplemental thereto?

Shall the Madison Parish School District (Parish Wide), State of Louisiana (the "School Board"), under the provisions of Article VI, Section 29 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and other constitutional and statutory authority, be authorized to levy and collect an additional tax of one percent (1%) (the "Tax") for a twenty-five (25) year period commencing January 1, 2005 upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption, and the storage for use or consumption, of tangible personal property and on sales of services in the Parish of Madison, State of Louisiana, all as presently or hereafter defined in La. R.S. 47:301 through 47:317, inclusive, with the proceeds of the Tax, after paying the costs of collecting and administering the Tax, shall be used for acquiring, constructing, maintaining, improving and/or renovating school buildings and facilities, including furniture, fixtures and equipment; and shall the School Board further be authorized to fund the proceeds of the Tax into bonds to be issued from time to time for the purpose of paying the cost of acquiring, constructing, improving and/or renovating school buildings and facilities, including furniture, fixtures and equipment, to the extent and in the manner permitted by the laws of Louisiana, including Sub-Part F, Part III, Chapter 4, Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950?

To guarantee the right of every citizen to hunt, fish and trap, subject to regulation, restriction, or prohibition as provided by law. (Adds Article I, Section 27)

To provide that homestead exempt property is limited to property owned and occupied by the owners; to provide for land classified and assessed at use value; to provide that a field which qualifies for a homestead exemption may have timber on it; to prohibit granting the homestead exemption to bond for deed property unless granted before June 20, 2003; to explicitly prohibit more than one homestead exemption applying to any person; and to require the homestead exemption to extend to the following: (1) The surviving spouse when the homestead is occupied by the surviving spouse and title to it is in the surviving spouse's name as owner of any interest or an usufructuary, or in the name of a testamentary trust established for the benefit of the surviving spouse or the descendants, or to the former spouse when the homestead is occupied by the former spouse and title to it is in the name of either or both of the former spouses. (2) Property owned by an irrevocable trust when the principal beneficiary or beneficiaries are the settlor or settlors of the trust and were the immediate prior owners of the homestead, and the homestead is occupied as such by a principal beneficiary. (3) Property where the usufruct has been granted to no more than two usufructuaries who occupy the homestead and who were the immediate prior owners of the homestead. (4) A natural person or persons and to an irrevocable trust created by a natural person or persons in which the beneficiaries of the trust are a natural person or persons if the criteria above is otherwise satisfied. (5) Property owned, limited to the prorata ownership interest of the person occupying the homestead unless provided otherwise above. (Amends Article VII, Section 20(A))

To provide that persons who served honorably in the armed forces of the United States for at least ninety days after September 11, 2001, for reasons other than training are eligible for the veterans' five-point preference for original state police service employment or original civil service employment by the state, by the city of New Orleans, or by any other civil service system governed by the same provisions of the constitution; to provide that persons who served honorably in the armed forces of the United States during a war declared by the United States Congress are eligible for the veterans' five-point preference for original state police service employment; and to permit the legislature to provide for the addition of war periods or armed conflicts for such eligibility by state law enacted by a two-thirds vote. (Amends Article X, Sections 10(A)(2) and 48(A)(2))

To authorize the legislature to provide by law for programs to assist Louisiana farmers and fishermen with support and expansion of their industries; to establish the Agricultural and Seafood Products Support Fund as a special fund in the state treasury; to provide for the sources of monies in the fund to be from the licensing of trademarks or labels for use in promoting Louisiana agricultural and seafood products, grants, gifts, donations received by the state, any other revenues as provided for by law, and monies appropriated by the legislature to the fund; and to provide for sources of monies in the fund and use of monies appropriated from the fund for assistance to Louisiana farmers and fishermen. (Adds Article VII, Section 10.12)