HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The Mayor’s Task Force started their work in May 2019. The Task Force was citizen-driven and supported by two council members; Roger Malone,Chairman and Mike Birdsong, Vice Chairman, as well as city staff. The Task Force created two subcommittees a Road Selection subcommittee, chaired by the Superintendent of Choctaw-Nicoma Park Schools, and the Finance subcommittee, co-chaired by the Superintendent of the Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center and a council member. The subcommittees were responsible for determining road selection and financing options.
The Road Selection team researched and determined the street assessment report developed by the City should be used as a guide for the roads to be selected.
The Finance team worked to explore, research, and develop the financing of road improvements. The team developed a general obligation bond and sales tax package. The financing package was designed to stop the long-prescribed process of patching roads that have little-to-no base. This patching created an endless cycle of "putting band-aids on a bullet wound."
A third team was formed to develop and prepare for the logistics of the election, including providing a consistent messaging package for all campaigning in order to pass this important vote.
The City of Choctaw staff worked tirelessly for several years developing road assessments and other key informational documents.
Over 20 Choctaw citizens have been involved in the Mayor's Road Committee Task Force. These citizens, coupled with the great work done by City staff, truly made this a community proposal.
CHOCTAW’s BETTER and SAFER ROADS PROJECT
The proposal has two elements. Part One is the General Obligation bonds, to be authorized by the voters, and Part Two is a new 0.75% sales tax for streets maintenance, to be authorized by the voters.
The G.O. Bonds to be authorized are currently estimated at $13 million. The entire $13 million will not be issued at once. Instead, the bonds will be sold in dollar amounts and at dates that allow the City to target a mill levy. The mill levy target being discussed is 6 mills. A 6-mill levy on a $100,000 house with homestead exemption would result in increased property taxes of $60/year, or $5/month.
The long-range plan would have the City returning to the voters sometime in the next 10-15 years to authorize additional G.O. bonds, to be issued as the older G.O. bonds are paid off, allowing the City to keep investing in Choctaw roads, while maintaining the 6-mill levy target.
Voters will also be asked to approve a three-quarters of one percent (0.75%) increase in sales tax, which means that for every $100 purchase in Choctaw, the sales tax increase will be 75 cents. That will increase the total sales tax rate in Choctaw to 9.5%. The increase will generate approximately $1.1 million/year in additional revenue to fund the road improvement projects.
