LITTLE ROCK — State Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, filed a bill Monday that would increase the annual tax on private timberlands to raise more money for the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

Senate Bill 5 would increase the annual tax of 15 cents per acre on timberlands to 20 cents per acre. Assessments from past years would not be affected.

Sample said he proposed the tax increase on the behalf of the Arkansas Forestry Commission. The Arkansas Forestry Association and Arkansas Farm Bureau are backing the proposal, he said.

The proposed tax increase would raise about $700,000 a year for the forestry commission - enough money to buy three new bulldozers plus other equipment, he said.

“These bulldozers are our lifeblood in the hills as far as protecting us from fires,” Sample said.

State Forester Joe Fox, who directs the forestry commission, said the commission has 104 dozer units, including a bulldozer and fire plow and a truck to carry the bull dozer. Nineteen of the units are 15 years or older.

The commission needs to replace seven of the dozer units each year, but only has enough money to replace one,he said.

Max Braswell, executive director of the Arkansas Forestry Association, said the 5 cent-per-acre tax increase on timberlands is “well worth” the investment because it will make key “resources available [to protect] forest landowners.”

Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, said he supports the proposed tax increase.

He said he doesn’t know whether the proposed tax increase could clear the Republican-controlled Legislature, adding its chances are helped because Sample is a respected Republican lawmaker.

Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, said the proposed tax increase would have “an uphill climb” to clear the Legislature.

Eight of the Senate’s 35 members have signed the Americans for Tax Reform’s pledge not to vote for any tax increases and 11 of the House’s 100 members have signed it, according to the Washington,D. C.-based group’s website.

Last February, then-state Forester John Shannon resigned after an audit faulted him for allowing practices that resulted in a $4 million shortfall. Thirty-four Arkansas Forestry Commission employees lost their jobs because of the shortage. The state later reinstated 15 firefighter positions.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/15/2013