Sen. Sacchieri files bill requiring clear 'tax increase' label on ballot measures

Sen. Kendal Sacchieri Introduces Legislation Requiring Clear Label on Ballot Measures Leading to Tax Increases

OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 27th) – Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, recently filed a measure to require any proposal put before voters to explicitly state that it will result in increased taxes. Under the provisions of Senate Bill 1116, all state questions, school bonds, sales tax proposals, or any other proposals that would raise or extend tax rates must include a disclaimer stating, “THIS IS A TAX INCREASE”.

Muskogee City Council backtracks, postpones $78M bond issue, sales tax renewal

Back in May, the Muskogee City Council voted to set an August 27th election for a $78.6M general obligation bond and sales tax proposal. It had a rushed feeling to it, and there's been quite a bit of local controversy over it. Earlier this week, the council held a special meeting and voted to postpone to vote for further community input.

Good.

City Council Votes to Postpone GO Bond Election

MUSKOGEE, OKLA., July 15, 2024 - In a Special Call City Council meeting held on Monday, July 15, the Muskogee City Council voted to postpone the upcoming General Obligation Bond Election.

“Almost everyone I’ve talked to is in favor of investing in Muskogee and likes the projects put forward, but I feel like we could use a few more months to consider the issues,” said Mayor Patrick Cale. 

Muskogee City Council sets August vote on $78M bond issue, sales tax renewal

County Assessor Ron Dean during public comment at the Muskogee City Council meeting Monday

Brace for impact, Muskogee: our city council has set an election for a bond and sales tax proposal totaling over $78,000,000 on August 27th.

I dropped in for my first city council meeting in years yesterday when I heard that a special meeting had been called to vote on sending the mega-million dollar package to the ballot. You can view the agenda here; scroll down to items 14, 15, 16, and 17.

State House passes bill to allow bonds for aging flood-control dams

Bill to Allow Bonds for Aging Flood-Control Dams Passes House

OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill authorizing the issue of bonds to improve and repair some of the state’s high-risk flood-control dams passed the House today with a vote of 93-1.

House Bill 3298 by state Rep. Carl Newton (R-Cherokee) authorizes the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority (OCIA) to acquire property and invest capital to update dams throughout Oklahoma.

“Many of these dams are more than 50 years old and have reached their life expectancy,” Newton said. “It is important that we protect the homes and cities that are built beneath these structures, many of which supply water to surrounding communities.”

HB 3298 is asking for the ability to bond $17.5 million for property acquisition and would make use of a 65% federal match of $50 million to extend the life of these dams. Debt retirement payments would be made by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. The bill passed in the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee by a vote of 19-0 in February.

HB 3298 is co-authored by House Majority Leader Mike Sanders (R-Kingfisher) and House Majority Deputy Floor Leader John Pfeiffer (R-Orlando). The bill now moves to the state Senate where it is authored by Sen. Darcy Jech (R-Kingfisher).

Results Map: Muskogee voters pass $110M school bond

(click to view larger)

Voters in Muskogee approved a $110M school bond today with 68.15% of the vote, clearing the 60% approval threshold for bond passage. The above graphic shows precinct-by-precinct results, illustrating the percentages above or below the 60% mark in each voting district.

Two minuscule precincts were unanimous in their voting -- Precinct 36 (the far western edge of the school district) had five votes cast in favor and none opposed, while Precinct 46 (the darkest red) has a single vote cast in opposition and none in favor.

Aside from the unanimous precincts, the top three precincts for the Yes vote were Precinct 23 (84.4% yes; 238-44), Precinct 17 (83.05% yes; 98-20), and Precinct 38 (79.96% yes; 455-114).

The top three precincts voting No were Precinct 55 (49.06% yes; 26-27, the only outright majority for the No side), Precinct 45 (54.04% yes, 107-91), and Precinct 37 (56.67% yes, 17-13).

Below is a table with results by precinct. I'm hoping the formatting holds and is readable. If not, you can go to the State Election Board website and navigate through their results page, find the Muskogee election, click 'View As', then 'County Details', then click 'Precincts' to get the raw figures without percentages.

Precinct	Yes vote	%	No vote	%	Total Vote	+/- 60%
5	246	61.50%	154	38.50%	400	+1.5%
7	457	63.03%	268	36.97%	725	+3.03%
9	423	67.79%	201	32.21%	624	+7.79%
11	95	60.90%	61	39.10%	156	+0.9%
13	147	59.76%	99	40.24%	246	-0.24%
17	98	83.05%	20	16.95%	118	+23.05%
21	177	75.64%	57	24.36%	234	+15.64%
22	278	71.47%	111	28.53%	389	+11.47%
23	238	84.40%	44	15.60%	282	+24.4%
28	100	68.03%	47	31.97%	147	+8.03%
36	5	100%	0	0%	5	+40%
37	128	58.45%	91	41.55%	219	-1.55%
38	455	79.96%	114	20.04%	569	+19.96%
45	107	54.04%	91	45.96%	198	-5.96%
46	0	0%	1	100%	1	-60%
47	45	66.18%	23	33.82%	68	+6.18%
49	13	68.42%	6	31.58%	19	+8.42%
55	26	49.06%	27	50.94%	53	-10.94%
61	17	56.67%	13	43.33%	30	-3.33%
	3055	68.15%	1428	31.85%	4483	+8.15%

Muskogee voters to decide on $110M school bond today

Today, voters in Muskogee will be deciding on whether to adopt or reject a $110,000,000 school bond, the largest ever considered in the Muskogee Public Schools district. The proposal would spend $37,000,000 on a new football stadium and athletic complex, $5,000,000 on upgraded technology, and about $68,000,000 on demolition/reconstruction or remodeling of most school sites within the district.

The bond would increase the school district's portion of property taxes from 20 mils to about 32 mils, costing approximately $120 per year on a $100,000 property.

The district chose to pursue a lease-purchase bond instead of the more-traditional general obligation bond. Under a lease-purchase bond, the district obtains a loan for the full amount up front in order to begin construction and spending, as opposed to waiting for property tax collections to start coming in before projects can move forward. Lease-purchase bonds have been controversial in the past, as they essentially allow schools to bypass constitutional limits on indebtedness and can tie up bond capacity for longer periods of time than traditional bonds.

Voters in the district approved a bond in 2013, about 38% of which has not yet been collected and spent. This proposed bond was touted by school administration as a 12-year obligation, but a recent article in the Muskogee Phoenix quoted County Assessor Ron Dean as saying that it could extend into 16 years, depending on local growth rates.

Some highlights of the bond election details:

• Activity Center and Varsity Stadium: $37,000,000
• Freshman Academy @ Alice Robertson: $18,000,000
• Tony Goetz Elementary: $13,000,000
• Muskogee High School: $12,000,000
• Sadler Arts Academy: $10,000,000
• Early Childhood Center: $6,000,000
• Technology acquisition and installation: $5,000,000
• Benjamin Franklin Science Academy: $2,000,000
• Grant Foreman Elementary: $2,000,000
• Irving Elementary: $1,000,000
• Creek Elementary: $1,000,000
• Pershing Elementary: $1,000,000
• New Tech at Cherokee Elementary: $1,000,000
• Whittier Elementary: $1,000,000
• TOTAL: $110,000,000

According to the 2017 Bond Transparency Act fact-sheet posted by MPS, there is still about $18,000,000 remaining to be collected and spent from a bond that was passed in 2013. Those bonds would still be collected and allocated as specified regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's vote.

You can view specific building projects, maps and details at this link. You can see concept renderings of the proposed building projects here, also provided by MPS.

School bonds require a 60% affirmative vote for passage. The last bonds received over 80% of the vote. However, the high percentage of funds in this round going toward a new stadium and athletic facilities has sparked more opposition than usual, it would seem.

The below graphic shows the proposed schedule of construction if the bond is approved. Projects on the athletics complex, Alice Robertson and Tony Goetz schools would begin almost immediately, while the rest of the schools wouldn't see work until mid-late 2020 or late 2021.

Due to the structure of the lease-purchase bond, about $20,000,000 to $30,000,000 would go to paying the bond owners. There's a lot of late-breaking conflicting information (this didn't seem to get covered in the MPS campaign materials), some saying that it's figured into the $110,000,000 figure (such as the aforementioned Phoenix article) and others saying that it would be on top of the full bond price. I'll be honest, bonds aren't my specialty. 

MPS estimates that the top per-year cost of the bond would be about $60 for a $50,000 assessed property, $120 for a $100,000 property, $240 for a $200,000 property, and so on.

Polls will be open from 7am to 7pm. Don't forget to exercise your right to vote, as this will impact everyone who lives within the MPS district.

OCPA column: Turf over Textbooks?

Turf over textbooks?

By OCPA president Jonathan Small

In 2018, Oklahomans will see the largest teacher pay raise in state history, dramatic tax increases, and record total funding for education. Since March 29, $610 million in new tax increases and annual revenues have become law. Since the 2015 legislative session, more than $1 billion in new tax increases and annual revenues have become law.

Now that we have revenue, let’s not miss the opportunity for transformative reforms.

Clearly, Oklahoma’s teachers needed a substantial raise. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs offered several proposals to increase teacher pay, including prioritizing existing funds and even offering a revenue plan.

Many Oklahomans were understandably confused as teachers marched to the state Capitol to ask for more government funding, even while in at least two central Oklahoma school districts, construction was surging ahead on lavish new multimillion-dollar football stadiums.

Patrons in Owasso were also baffled when they learned that the ragged textbooks pictured in an infamous photo were not in fact being used in class. That was actually fake news, and it got extensive national media coverage.

Owasso voters, in fact, approved a bond issue to include $2 million for textbooks and materials. Incredibly, though, they also approved bonds to spend more than twice as much ($5.45 million) on artificial turf.

And down in Norman, the teachers got their raise, and every middle and high school student in the district will get a new laptop thanks to $16 million in bond funds.

Oklahoma raised teacher pay and invested in education. Now, it’s time for local leaders and school boards to prioritize spending.

Do we really need 500-plus school districts with well-paid superintendents? Why would taxpayers give nearly $250,000 annually to a superintendent in whose district (Union) the majority of students lack proficiency in every subject?

Is there a better way to manage bond and operational funds to make sure priorities are met? When large school districts, like Tulsa Public Schools, issue more than $12 million for textbooks but then suggest they don’t have enough revenue, it undermines the true and legitimate needs of other schools.

What about staffing levels? As economist Benjamin Scafidi noted, between 1992 and 2015, enrollment in Oklahoma schools rose by 17 percent, teacher staffing went up by 12 percent, and non-teacher staffing ballooned by 36 percent. Can’t we redirect some of that operational diversion to other needs?

Legislators raised taxes by more than half a billion dollars to ensure teachers received the pay raise they needed. Now it’s time to enact reforms that will help modernize our system and empower our teachers.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (www.ocpathink.org).

House passes $25M pop culture museum bond on second vote

A day after SB839 failed by a vote of 44-49, the State House reconsidered and passed a $25,000,000 bond to fund a pop culture museum in Tulsa. On the reconsideration vote, the final tally was 51 in favor, 40 against. The measure had previously passed the State Senate 28-18.

Mind you, we had a $611,000,000 shortfall this year, took a substantial amount from the Rainy Day Fund and other state funds, and made major cuts to many agencies. Add this to the other $25,000,000 bond for the Indian Cultural Center passed earlier in this session (which ended today).

In the House, five members switched from 'no' to 'yes' on the pop culture museum bond.

Five members were missed the Thursday vote, then voted for it Friday: Will Fourkiller (D), James Lockhart (D), Jerry McPeak (D), Jason Nelson (R), and Mike Shelton (D).

Four Republicans voted no on Thursday, then missed the Friday vote: John Enns, Mark McBride, Sean Roberts, and Todd Russ. Democrat Johnny Tadlock missed the vote both times.

These are the 40 members who voted no both times (the correct vote, in my view): John Bennett (R), Scott Biggs (R), David Brumbaugh (R), Chad Caldwell (R), Kevin Calvey (R), Dennis Casey (R), Josh Cockroft (R), David Derby (R), Travis Dunlap (R), Jon Echols (R), George Faught (R), Dan Fisher (R), Randy Grau (R), Elise Hall (R), Tommy Hardin (R), Dennis Johnson (R), John Paul Jordan (R), Chris Kannaday (R), Sally Kern (R), Scott Martin (R), Charles McCall (R), Mark McCullough (R), Randy McDaniel (R), Lewis Moore (R), Jason Murphey (R), Tom Newell (R), Charles Ortega (R), Leslie Osborn (R), Pat Ownbey (R), Scooter Park (R), David Perryman (D), John Pfeiffer (R), Mike Ritze (R), Dustin Roberts (R), Michael Rogers (R), Mike Sanders (R), Earl Sears (R), Chuck Strohm (R), Steve Vaughan (R), and Paul Wesselhoft

The museum will include a parking garage, which apparently is the projected means of keeping the project profitable. Seriously.

Maybe the state should solve future budget crises by building parking garages... just a thought...