Early voting begins Saturday

Three proposed amendments to the state’s constitution and two state elected offices will be on the Oct. 14 ballot for Louisiana voters.
Early voting starts Saturday.
State Treasurer and District 2 Public Service Commissioner are on the ballot.
Suzanne deMahy qualified unopposed for an open seat on the 16th Judicial District bench. Patrick Hebert drew no opposition for the vacant District 6 seat on the St. Mary Parish Council.
According to The Associated Press, the first constitutional amendment on the ballot would determine how property taxes would be assessed on construction sites. The proposed amendment would create a property tax break for all property delivered to a construction site for the use in building industrial plants, companies and houses.
Typically, property taxes for building materials aren’t put on the tax rolls until the construction of a property is complete. However, concerns have been raised about whether taxes could be charged on large industrial projects that take several years to build.
The Louisiana secretary of state’s website says the next amendment would expand the property tax break that exempts the unmarried surviving spouses of military personnel, police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty from having to pay local property taxes on their homes.
The expanded amen-ment would now include surviving unmarried spouses of first responders, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics and volunteer firefighters, as well as military personnel and law enforcement officers who have been on the job for less than a year.
The final amendment proposes any new tax that would be levied on gasoline, diesel or other motor fuels would have to be put in a protected fund to be used solely for the purpose of paying for construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and other transportation projects. The funds would be prohibited from paying any state employee salaries or benefits.
If the amendments pass, they go into effect Jan 1.
Early voting locations are the St. Mary Parish Courthouse in Franklin and the St. Mary Parish Annex Building in Morgan City. Each early voting location will be open 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. until the last day of early voting Oct. 7.
For more election information on candidates for state treasurer and public service commissioner, and to view your sample ballot, visit the Louisiana secretary of state website at www.sos.la.gov.