Budget Briefing: OK Spends Millions on Community College Dropouts, DHS Lawsuit Agreement Funds Monitors, OCPA: Nixing Income Tax Possible Without Property Tax

This morning’s budget-related news:

Oklahoma spends millions on community college students who drop out, study says | NewsOK.com In that five-year period, Oklahoma’s community college dropouts cost taxpayers $57 million, the study says. That total includes state appropriations, as well as state and federal grant money. During the 2008-09 academic year, Oklahoma spent $8.5 million on first-year dropouts, which ranked 25th in the nation. (newsok.com)

DHS monitors to get staff, funding to carry out child welfare reforms | Tulsa World As part of the terms agreed upon in a federal class-action lawsuit, three monitors will receive a budget and staff to ensure the state Department of Human Services makes progress on improving its child welfare system. (tulsaworld.com)

No property-tax increase necessary | OCPA Some say, “Texas has no income tax and their property taxes are sky high compared to Oklahoma,” or “Government is already underfunded, so the money has to be found somewhere.” But it’s simply not true that “property taxes will be increased” in order to phase out the personal income tax. (ocpathink.org)