Fallin cuts top tax rate, says state revenue growth is enough.

[swake]

I don't see that as a good thing.

I'm not making a value judgement on it, it's just truthful that the economy in SF is so overheated right now that many less well off people are being shoved out of longtime homes as developers and landlords chase dollars. It's happening in Manhattan and Brooklyn too.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The last booming salary increase I got was during  the late Carter / early Reagan Administrations.  I got a nice raise just to keep my salary up with the new hires.

You must have been working where I was!!  Don't suppose you were up on 15th street somewhere a ways west of Memorial??   I came back to the place after getting another degree and set the curve!  All the engineers were either at or below what they had to pay to get me (or someone like me) right out of school...!    They couldn't bring me on board until they gave everyone else a raise!!     


You're welcome!!  Glad I could help!

[Hoss]

Where was Fallin to stop this?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/manufacturing/hilti-moving-north-american-headquarters-from-tulsa-to-dallas-area/article_28b2ae91-98ae-5a64-9021-0cc6ae3eb46d.html

[Townsend]

Where was Fallin to stop this?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/manufacturing/hilti-moving-north-american-headquarters-from-tulsa-to-dallas-area/article_28b2ae91-98ae-5a64-9021-0cc6ae3eb46d.html

Well that sucks

[dbacksfan 2.0]

According to a 2013 article in Forbes, Texas has 3 of the top twenty markets for construction and Dallas is No. 2.

"Moving the corporate headquarters to the Dallas Metroplex puts us in the middle of a top five construction market and gives us greater access to a much larger talent pool as we expand our business over the next decade," Cary Evert, Hilti North America President and CEO, said in a statement.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mhj45eegjl/introduction-51/

[dbacksfan 2.0]

So this begs the question, what do you do to increase the talent pool as referenced in the article from Hilti?

[Conan71]

"Moving the corporate headquarters to the Dallas Metroplex puts us in the middle of a top five construction market and gives us greater access to a much larger talent pool as we expand our business over the next decade," Cary Evert, Hilti North America President and CEO, said in a statement.

Ouch!  I wonder if Markus Hilti is moving to Dallas with the HQ?  He had a pretty nice house off 31st St. near Harvard, IIRC.

Quick check of assessor's records would indicate the Hiltis must have bolted some time back.  Only Hilti property showing is their corporate compound.

[Townsend]

This should raise the heat in some posters' cockles.

Oklahoma Tax System Called "Unfair"

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/oklahoma-tax-system-called-unfair

Results from a new study claim Oklahoma's tax system is unfair to the great majority of its' citizens. The report, from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, finds low and middle-income Oklahomans pay over two times more in taxes as a percentage of income than the wealthiest residents. Gene Perry is with the Oklahoma Policy Institute. He says the state's tax system is upside down.

Perry says the Governor and legislature keep pushing tax cuts for top earners, but they haven't done a thing for Oklahomans who most need a break.

[Hoss]

This should raise the heat in some posters' cockles.

Oklahoma Tax System Called "Unfair"

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/oklahoma-tax-system-called-unfair

I'll say this much as a middle income earner - my OK state income tax is approaching half in amount of what I pay yearly in Federal income tax.  It never used to be that way in the nineties...

[Red Arrow]

I'll say this much as a middle income earner - my OK state income tax is approaching half in amount of what I pay yearly in Federal income tax.  It never used to be that way in the nineties...

You must not be paying enough Federal Income Tax.

[Townsend]

Governor's Budget Director Arrested on DUI Related Complaint

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/governors-budget-director-arrested-dui-related-complaint

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger has been arrested by Oklahoma City police on an alcohol-related complaint.

The Oklahoman reports that Doerflinger was arrested late Thursday on a complaint of actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Records show Doerflinger was booked into Oklahoma County jail about 1:30 a.m. Friday and released.

A police report says Doerflinger was arrested after officers responded to a caller who reported seeing a distraught woman trying to get out of a vehicle. Officers located the vehicle and identified Doerflinger as the driver. The officer reported Doerflinger had the odor of alcohol on his breath and seemed confused.

In a statement, Doerflinger said: "I am deeply sorry for the embarrassment this has caused. It will not happen again."

He should've just let the governor out of he car.

[Townsend]

Damn Sauer...what happened?

Oklahoma Legislative Leaders say State Budget Hole to Double

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/oklahoma-legislative-leaders-say-state-budget-hole-double

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's legislative leaders say the state's projected $300 million budget hole for the upcoming year will nearly double due to low energy prices and the resulting layoffs of oil and natural gas workers.

Republican Rep. Earl Sears of Bartlesville, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, said Thursday falling energy prices and layoffs at Oklahoma energy companies means the budget shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1 "will be significantly larger" than originally projected.

House Democrat Leader Scott Inman of Oklahoma City says the shortfall will be almost double the original estimate, or about $600 million.

House Speaker Jeff Hickman says a larger budget hole will likely mean budget cuts at state agencies.

The Board of Equalization will certify the revenue estimate for next year on Tuesday.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Damn Sauer...what happened?

Reality happened - what we have been saying all along...!

[TheArtist]

We have known for a long time that we have got to get this state off the heavy reliance on oil and gas.  Not saying we need to cut back on drilling and such as much as we need to focus on other industries and infrastructure. When times are good thats the time to invest in broadening our economy.  

Here is what the next go around could very well look like.  Gas prices will rise again.  The economy will bounce back over the years.  Then just as we think we are sitting pretty, gas prices will begin to drop again... and this time likely stay low.  Why?  By this time alternative energy sources and transportation truly will be competitive and keep getting better and more broadly based, the now fast growing economies will have matured to a much slower pace, and people will really be able to see the writing on the wall.  I would hope that they would see it now and prepare for this future so that we aren't "surprised" by the inevitable.  We won't know exactly when but I think most can agree that this will happen.  Lets not be behind the curve, lets get ahead of it and reap the benefits of that foresight.  Lets indeed make money off the oil/gas while the getting is good, but know it aint gonna last, for this next time may very well be the last time we get to play this card.  

[Conan71]

We have known for a long time that we have got to get this state off the heavy reliance on oil and gas.  Not saying we need to cut back on drilling and such as much as we need to focus on other industries and infrastructure. When times are good thats the time to invest in broadening our economy.  

Here is what the next go around could very well look like.  Gas prices will rise again.  The economy will bounce back over the years.  Then just as we think we are sitting pretty, gas prices will begin to drop again... and this time likely stay low.  Why?  By this time alternative energy sources and transportation truly will be competitive and keep getting better and more broadly based, the now fast growing economies will have matured to a much slower pace, and people will really be able to see the writing on the wall.  I would hope that they would see it now and prepare for this future so that we aren't "surprised" by the inevitable.  We won't know exactly when but I think most can agree that this will happen.  Lets not be behind the curve, lets get ahead of it and reap the benefits of that foresight.  Lets indeed make money off the oil/gas while the getting is good, but know it aint gonna last, for this next time may very well be the last time we get to play this card.  

Oklahoma made a stab at taking part in alternative energy.  Does anyone know if we still make any wind farm components in Tulsa now?  We created a good trade in wind farm construction at one point, but like any form of construction, once the big project is done, you have to find the next big project. 

It looks as if solar technology has been ceded to the Chinese.

The oil business itself isn't necessarily driven by drilling and exploration in the state.  We still have a few significant players in the exploration and production field with interests all over the place like Chesapeake and Continental in the state, but we also have huge refining and oil field infrastructure companies in the area as well as their feeders: Koch, Zeeco, UOP Russell (Honeywell), Matrix, Smithco, FlowServe, Metal Services, TekTube, Halliburton, Baker-Hughes, etc.  Some of those companies also do projects not oil-related.  We have world-class fabricators right here in Tulsa. There are still many job openings available in the heavy fabrication field.  We should try to capitalize on that.  Having the Port of Catoosa is a wonderful strategic tool as you can move items by barge far too large to move by truck or train.

We need to try and encourage more tech and research growth, but that won't happen without quality education programs we can point to as leaders in the field to attract tech companies.  To do that, we need more cooperation from the board of regents to quit putting the noose over Tulsa's neck in needing real four year public college options.

We keep looking in the wrong direction for sources of employment.  Because city operating budgets rely on sales tax, we end up courting retail business which provides primarily entry level or secondary income type jobs.  That doesn't lead an economy, that follows an economy.  I was told by a former politician that if he ever got back in, his sole platform would be weaning the state and cities off the dependence on sales tax.  Then we could focus more on real quality of life issues like a real four year public university program in Tulsa.

We are missing a few things other areas are able to use to recruit tech companies or alternatives to energy-related business.  We don't have mountains out our backyard or an ocean an hour's drive away.  We are doing a better job at revitalizing our urban areas and improving green space, though I don't think water in the river and commercial development up and down the Arkansas River is the kind of thing which would help attract 25-34 YP's. 

if we want quite a bit of commercial development on a waterway, we would be better to revisit small scale canals like the creek (Elm Creek?) that is now a covered storm sewer from Centennial Park to 21st & Riverside.  That's what San Antonio and OKC have that seems to appeal to a certain amount of people around here.  The scale of the Arkansas River is such that it's not really conducive to that sort of development and some of the other developments further south have sort of turned their back on the river and not made it a focus (i.e. King's Landing).