December Sales Tax Revenues Up 14.2% in Tulsa, 1.2% in OKC

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Tulsa’s December sales tax revenues jumped 14.2 percent compared to the same month last year.

The Tulsa World’s Brian Barber reports that Tulsa’s increase was partly due to an expiring tax share between the city and county.

City voters in 2008 approved assuming the “4 to Fix” tax share when it expired to help fund the $451.6 million Fix Our Streets initiative.

The city’s December 2011 sales tax check was about $18.4 million, compared with the roughly $16.1 million it received in 2010.

Oklahoma City saw a 1.2 percent increase during the same time period, the World reported.

The December total reflects sales taxes collected from Oct. 16 to Nov. 15 and doesn’t include “Black Friday” holiday shopping.

Still, Finance Director Mike Kier said taking the increase in the sales-tax rate into consideration, the city’s sales-tax revenue was up about 9 percent over December 2010, the World reported.

Despite the good news, the paper’s editorial page argued the sales tax bump alone wouldn’t fix the city.

A healthier sales-tax payoff won’t solve the trash hauling dilemma, for instance. Having some extra money to work with will certainly make some decisions easier.

It won’t, however, be a magic elixir that will make everyone sing Kumbaya. Cooperating to run the city will still be up to the mayor and council.