There are two ballot questions that voters will face when they go to the polls next week. The following is the text of the ballot question followed by a plain text explanation and background. Text is from the Committee of 70, the city’s non-partisan election watchdog group. For more, see seventy.org

Question 1: “Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to require that justices of the Supreme Court, judges, and magisterial district judges be retired on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 75?”

Mandatory judicial retirement is a constitutional provision that has been in place since 1968. This rule requires judges in Pennsylvania to step down from the bench at the end of the calendar year in which they turn 70. Similar mandatory retirement rules are in place in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

A proposed amendment to Section 16(b) of Article V of the Pennsylvania Constitution that would increase the state’s mandatory judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 will go before voters on Nov.8, 2016. If the retirement age is not extended to 75, 19 judicial vacancies will be created by the end of 2016: one on the Supreme Court, thirteen in the Courts of Common Pleas, three in the Magisterial District Courts, and two in the Municipal Courts."Learn more from Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, the state's nonprofit and nonpartisan judicial watchdog.

Question 2: “Should the City of Philadelphia borrow $184,303,000.00 to be spent for and toward capital purposes as follows: Transit; Streets and Sanitation; Municipal Buildings; Parks, Recreation and Museums; and Economic and Community Development?”

This ballot question, if approved by the voters, would authorize the city to borrow $184,303,000 for capital purposes, thereby increasing the city’s indebtedness by $184,303,000. Capital purposes means, generally, to make expenditures that will result in something of value with a useful life to the city of more than five years, for example, acquisitions of real estate, or construction of or improvements to buildings, property or streets.

The money to be borrowed would be used by the city for five identified purposes, namely, Transit; Streets and Sanitation; Municipal Buildings; Parks, Recreation and Museums; and Economic and Community Development, all in specific amounts identified in Bill No. 160610 (approved Sept. 9, 2016). City Council would have authority, by ordinance, to change the intended allocation of these proceeds.