Stan Geiger

Tulsa Streets: Let's Not Go Nuts

While much needs to be done for Tulsa streets, we must guard against overreacting.

Politicians love a crisis, real or perceived. They love a crisis so much, if one doesn't exist, they will go out of their way to create one. A crisis gives politicians an opportunity to exploit public sentiment and raise taxes.

From the Tulsa Beacon:

City councilors are floating plans on how to raise millions of dollars in new taxes to spend on fixing streets.

The council has balked at voting on a specific tax increase, but some councilors and Mayor Kathy Taylor want a quick vote – as soon as July 29.

City officials are not discussing specifics but reports say the plan will include a permanent half-penny sales tax increase, a bond issue paid by higher property taxes and more increases in water bills. The price tag could be anywhere from $500 million to $1.6 billion.

It seems every time I hear a figure for fixing streets it is bigger than the last time I heard it. On the high side, we've now hit $1.6 billion. C'mon.

I presume the figure cited is a projection, as in $1.6 billion over 10 years. Do you really think we need to spend an extra $160 million on streets every year for 10 years running?

Do you, for that matter, want $160 million more spent on streets in any given year? I don't. I was around in the 1980s, when it seemed every south Tulsa street and intersection was under construction at the same time. It was quite the mess.

What we need to do here is come up with a few million dollars more per year, prioritize projects, and take things one step at a time. If we stay the course, things will be in much better shape in a relatively short period of time---with a minimum of disruption.

I see a lot of proposals to increase city revenue in the Beacon report, but I see nothing about finding money for streets in the city's current budget. I see nothing about eliminating needless city jobs or scaling back benefits provided.

I think it quite possible, if not probable, that out of the nearly $600 million the city is currently spending every 12 months, 10 or 20 million dollars in fat could be found and removed.

Fix the streets? Yes. But let's not go nuts.

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