Bartlett wants to change the sales-tax-only law

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

Mayors across Oklahoma are lobbying for the state to let cities decide for themselves how to pay for things like police and fire services.

Oklahoma is currently the only state that requires cities to budget for public safety with just sales tax revenue. Mayor Dewey Bartlett, of Tulsa, said no other state works this way because it isn't stable.

Bartlett said that he and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett have been asking state legislators if they understand that cities can only fund themselves from sales tax.

"Most of them say yes, but some of them say, 'What do you mean?'" Bartlett said.

He said he can try to predict what people will spend when he creates a budget, but when the economy takes a dip that can change everything and cuts have to be made.

"For police, for fire, for all of those departments, we need something that they can count on to know they'll have enough money to fund these things," said Mary Beth Babcock.

Babcock owns Dwelling Spaces in downtown Tulsa and understands that when sales go down, so does sales tax revenue for the city.

Bartlett is proposing that Oklahoma change the law to allow each city to decide how they want to be taxed. He said he would like to have a property tax in Tulsa because he thinks it could lower the sales tax and balance it out for taxpayers.

According to Bartlett, it would also bring in the same amount of income for the city.

Bartlett believes a change in state law could happen in the next couple of years.

http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/oklahoma-mayors-call-change-city-funding-law/nnnGx/

[saintnicster]

...no other state works this way because it isn't stable...

Since when has that governed how Oklahoma does its business?

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

Since when has that governed how Oklahoma does its business?

To be fair, every state is guilty of that.

[sgrizzle]

I'm all for not having Amazon.com as the scapegoat for all of our woes.

[Conan71]

I'm all for not having Amazon.com as the scapegoat for all of our woes.

+1

[swake]

Bezos!

[sgrizzle]

[patric]

Does anyone really think sales taxes will go down if a new tax were added on to it?

Maybe there should be more discussion as to which departments really work to stay within budgets and which dont.

[Conan71]

Does anyone really think sales taxes will go down if a new tax were added on to it?

Maybe there should be more discussion as to which departments really work to stay within budgets and which dont.

There's little doubt there are departments which could operate leaner.  The problem is, when you approach a department head and tell them to start looking for ways to cut the budget, they circle the wagons and do whatever they can do to protect their little fiefdom. 

The problem when 65% of your operating revenue comes from sales tax is you are working from projections which are predicting consumer behavior in the future.  There are so many variables which can change that it's very hard to predict.  With primary funding coming from property tax, you know exactly how much revenue is on the rolls for the next planning period.

The other part I like about shifting our funding is we no longer need to be slaves to craptastic auto-centric retail developments which only seem to put more pressure on our crumbling infrastructure.

If the city were changing its primary funding mechanism to, say property tax, there's no longer a need for the full sales tax percentage they charge now.  I could see the possibility they might vote in a 1 penny tax to fund streets or infrastructure.

[AquaMan]

However, there is not much separating the appraisal process from the taxation process. It would conceivably inflate taxable appraised value to match yield perceived needs. Then a push to eliminate exclusions, waivers from increases etc. is likely to follow.

IOW we could construct a system that is influenced by city/county needs and mortgage companies might be obliged to inflate appraisals as well.

Its always good to make sure budgets are being accurately made and adhered to in any business.

[sgrizzle]

Well if they moved public safety to property tax base, then sales tax could be used for capital improvements and anything else meaning we could drop the third penny.

[Conan71]

However, there is not much separating the appraisal process from the taxation process. It would conceivably inflate taxable appraised value to match yield perceived needs. Then a push to eliminate exclusions, waivers from increases etc. is likely to follow.

IOW we could construct a system that is influenced by city/county needs and mortgage companies might be obliged to inflate appraisals as well.

Its always good to make sure budgets are being accurately made and adhered to in any business.

Appraisal value and assessment value usually are quite different.  The FMV the assessor values the two properties I own in Tulsa at about 80% of what they would likely appraise at.

There's little doubt property tax rates would go up since you are changing the funding mechanisms, but not property valuation.

Perhaps we would have a much more equitable sales tax system like no sales tax on groceries which is brutal on low income earners.

[swake]

Well if they moved public safety to property tax base, then sales tax could be used for capital improvements and anything else meaning we could drop the third penny.

I think you can move fire to property tax already by creating a fire district. I think a county wide fire district with a unified county fire department would make a lot of sense.

[sgrizzle]

I think you can move fire to property tax already by creating a fire district. I think a county wide fire district with a unified county fire department would make a lot of sense.

wasn't the rumor dewey was trying to merge city/county stuff to start with like Parks and TPD/sheriff too?

[Red Arrow]

I think you can move fire to property tax already by creating a fire district. I think a county wide fire district with a unified county fire department would make a lot of sense.

How would a county-wide fire department help me in Bixby?