Tulsa tax plan hits the right notes

On Nov. 6, Tulsa County voters will be choosing more than a president and a congressman. They'll vote on extending a sales tax that began with the Vision 2025 initiative in 2003. “Vision 2” is the moniker for a tax extension to pay for economic development and quality-of-life improvements. The 2003 vote, creating a six-tenths-of-a-cent sales tax for 13 years, brought Tulsa an outstanding arena (BOK Center), among other projects.

With passage of three capital improvements projects, styled as MAPS, MAPS for Kids and MAPS 3, Oklahoma City gained ground on Tulsa. This was a clarion call for Tulsa leaders to come up with a plan of their own. Unlike in Oklahoma City, the Tulsa initiatives are countywide. The sales tax rate is lower (MAPS levies a 1-cent tax) but the term is longer — about twice as lengthy as MAPS.

Proposition 1, valued at $386.88 million, would buy improvements for an industrial complex designed to keep an American Airlines maintenance center. Proposition 2 would build a juvenile justice facility, upgrade the fairgrounds, improve Arkansas River levees and finance other projects. Nine Tulsa suburbs would get a share of the cash, ranging from $600,000 for Sperry to $44.1 million for Broken Arrow.