Moore Sees New Growth After Storm

By Carrie Pagley

Published: August 6, 1999

MOORE -- Three months after tornadoes ripped through the area, Moore is starting to see some recovery -- and getting an idea of how much was actually lost.

Sales taxes, utility revenues and property taxes are expected to be affected by the loss of people, whether temporary or permanent.

That means a loss of money to the city, if people don't start moving back.

Former Moore residents seem to be rebuilding and new residents are still coming in.

"There's still actually growth in Moore. The growth has more than made up for what the storm destroyed," said city controller Jim Corbett.

According to Stan Drake, the director of community development, permits for totally rebuilt homes numbered at 76 for June and July.

On top of that, 53 new residence permits were issued in June and July for homes that had no relation to storm damage, Drake said.

New residences were up 9 from last year during the same two months.

Rebuilding and construction activity in the city will temporarily, at least, increase the sales tax revenue, Corbett said.

Because sales tax receipts are two months behind, May is the first month's sales tax revenues the city has seen, he said.

"There was an increase. It was good news," he said.

Sales tax for May showed an increase of 8.4 percent, or $61,390, from May of last year.

Since Moore is still experiencing growth, losses in utility revenues and property taxes may even out, Corbett said.

Water and sewer revenues decreased about $250,000 from July 1998 to July 1999.

"It would just be a guess of how much of this is storm-related and how much is weather," he said, citing the extremely high temperatures for last summer's higher utility bills.

Property tax losses will not be evident until property taxes are collected in December.

Moore schools, affected by the tornadoes, projected losses of 300-400 students for the upcoming year.

Now, however, school administrators are more hopeful due to the number of building permits that have been issued.

"We may have overestimated our loss of kids," said superintendent Wayland Bonds.

The Moore Board of Education changed the district residency policy to allow those residents who are temporality living out of the school district to send their children to Moore schools.

"Some of the things I'm hearing since we changed our residency policy, we might be getting more back than we expected," Bonds said. "We want all of these kids back, and we want their parents back."

State aid funding is determined by the number of students in a district and ad valorem taxes. Moore's state aid was up three percent from last year.

Damage to buildings threatened to keep some students out of school. The district has found places for all of the children, however.

Westmoore High School experienced heavy damage from the storm, but will be reopened in time for school.

Kelley Elementary was a total loss. Plans for the new building may be approved this month, Bonds said.

More than 400 children attended Kelley.

Younger elementary students will be attending classes at the old administration building at Broadway and 5, sometimes referred to as "Little Kelley."

Older elementary students will attend Fairview Elementary, 2431 SW 89, in the fall.