$2,000,000,000.00 - Split council sends tax hike to mayor
With the possibility of a mayor veto, a split City Council voted 5-4 last Thursday to send a $2 billion tax increase package to the voters on Nov. 4.
Mayor Kathy Taylor last week introduced a $451 million alternative package because her research showed the $2 billion package would not pass.
She has 15 days to decide on a veto, but if she waits until Sept. 4, the tax increase cannot be placed on the Nov. 4 ballot. It would take a vote of six councilors to override her veto.
Taylor spent weeks selling the $2 billion tax increase before influential businessmen convinced her only a smaller total could pass.
The $2 billion plan covers 12 years while Taylor’s second plan is only five years. The longer plan includes millions of dollars for projects other than streets, including Gilcrease Museum, etc.
“We need to take care of everything,” Councilor Bill Martinson said.
If approved, the Public Works’ package would raise property taxes and continue “temporary” sales taxes until 2021. Bonds would be sold for the package.
At an Aug. 14 council meeting, Dewey Bartlett, Jr., warned councilors that no plan would be passed by voters if it didn’t have the full support of the council.
Councilors Dennis Troyer, Rick Westcott, John Eagleton, Eric Gomez and Bill Martinson voted for the $2 billion tax increase. Councilor David Patrick reportedly has said he would vote to override any veto.
Martinson, the main architect of the $2 billion tax increase, said a veto would deprive the public of the chance to vote on any tax package.
“This modest millage increase is necessary to move forward,” said Eagleton, who in the past has spoken against tax increases and more government spending.
At the Thursday council meeting, the council rejected a plan by Councilor G.T. Bynum to put both plans on the Nov. 4 ballot.
“We have to place faith in the voters,” Bynum said.
Bynum flipflopped and said he would support only one plan on the ballot after delaying the vote one week at the August 14 meeting by offering an amendment forcing both plans on the ballot.
When commenting on his changed stance, Bynum said, “We don’t have the luxury of this vote failing.”
Martinson gave a slide presentation on the $2 billion plan and was challenged by Councilor Jack Henderson. Henderson said the police chief, the fire chief, the city clerk and the head of the Public Works Department all spoke for the smaller plan at the Aug. 14 council meeting.
“That smack of politics,” Martinson replied, implying that Taylor has instructed those city employees to speak out for her newest plan.
Martinson said Public Works Director Charles Hardt helped develop the $2 billion plan.
“The initial recommendations were made without bias or political influence,” Martinson said.
Christiansen said on Aug. 14 that “townhall meetings” that were advertised to collect “citizen input” actually were simply explanations of Taylor’s $2 billion tax increase.
Westcott, who voted for the higher tax increase, warned that Tulsans could also count on higher utility payments in the future.
“The citizens will have a significant increase in their utility rates under the 12-year plan,” Christiansen said.
Westcott, who said previous councils had ignored the street problem, said he didn’t want to leave these projects in the hands of future mayors and city councils.
“I don’t trust them,” Westcott said.
Former city councilor Jim Mautino told the council that the public doesn’t trust any of the plans because the Public Works Department has failed to complete projects from previous bond issues.
Under the 2001 Third Penny Sales Tax, several projects were promised to voters and have not been completed, Mautino said. Those include Admiral Boulevard from 145th East Avenue to 161st East Avenue; Garnett Road from Admiral Boulevard to 21st Street; 129th East Avenue from 31st to 41st streets and others.
A non-essential conversion of Main Mall from 4th Street to 5th Street in Downtown was approved in that same package and finished the next year.
“Why don’t you finish those projects and the projects from the 2006 Third Penny vote first?” Mautino asked. “We don’t know what streets will be fixed. How can you have any credibility if you don’t get those done?”
Mautino renewed his call for an external, independent audit of the Public Works Department. Eagleton said one was underway but no details have been made public.
Former city councilor Roscoe Turner said Aug. 21, “We’ve got to do something but we don’t know what.”
The $2 billion tax increase would run for 12 years from 2010 to 2021, when the “temporary taxes” would expire.
It would extend the Third Penny Sales Tax, take the city’s share of the 4 to Fix the County sales tax and the city’s portion of the county’s Vision 2025 sales tax.
All of these taxes were originally sold to the public as “temporary taxes.”
The $2 billion plan would fund street improvements but also nearly $270 million in non-street items. It would contain only $120 million for street widening.
Property taxes and house payments would rise by about $75 a year for a homeowner with a house appraised at $100,000. Utility rates would go up because sales tax revenue used for the utility department would be diverted to streets.
Public Works Department would add at least 100 new permanent employees.