There\u2019s a healthy debate on both sides<\/a> of the income tax issue, as well as a lively discussion over what raising sales, excise and gross production taxes will do to Oklahoma families and businesses.<\/p> But you\u2019ll never hear any pleas for a state property tax here in Oklahoma.<\/p> Why?<\/p> Just thank Bill Murray \u2014 the Governor, not the actor.<\/p>\n Oklahoma Historical Society<\/p>\n Oklahoma's ninth governor, William H. Murray, led efforts to eliminate the state property tax.<\/p>\n<\/div> In the 1930s, Oklahoma\u2019s legislature only met every other year, said Alexander Holmes, Regents Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Oklahoma.<\/p> The legislature would pass a budget, which would be funded by a collection of tax revenues. In the \u201930s, Oklahoma\u2019s budget was largely funded by three sources, Holmes said, including a gross production and insurance premium tax.<\/p> \u201cBut the state ran on the property tax,\u201d said professor Holmes, who also served as Secretary of Finance under Gov. Henry Bellmon\u2019s second term in the late \u201980s and early \u201990s.<\/p> The State Board of Equalization<\/a> \u2014 which estimates and certifies revenue available for appropriation and \u201cequalizes\u201d property value \u2014 would adjust the millage levy, raising or lowering property taxes in response to revenues from other tax collections.<\/p> This was before Oklahoma had a balanced budget amendment, Holmes said. Everything worked fine \u2014 until the price of oil tanked.<\/p> With less gross production taxes coming in, the Board of Equalization was forced to act, said Holmes, who was \u201cflabbergasted\u201d after studying the board\u2019s historic records.<\/p> \u201cDramatic doesn\u2019t begin to describe the numbers\u201d he said. \u201cYour property tax might triple from one year to the next. Then it might drop in half. Then it might double again.\u201d<\/p> The wild swings made it nearly impossible for landholders to make a plan to meet their property tax obligations. Adding to land-related problems for property owners: the Dust Bowl.<\/p> \u201cThe poor earth isn\u2019t growing, and your property tax is doubling,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p> It\u2019s easy to understand why getting rid of a state property tax was a popular idea in Oklahoma, and that\u2019s William H. \u201cAlfalfa\u201d Bill Murray did. Murray led efforts to abolish the state property tax, and worked to impose millage caps on property equalization.<\/p> A 1933 amendment to Oklahoma’s constitution abolished the state-run property tax and made it the exclusive prerogative of local governments. In all the debates<\/a> about adjusting Oklahoma’s “tax mix<\/a>” at the state level, a property tax is never suggested.<\/p> Holmes said it never will.<\/p> “It’s unpopular even at the local level,” he said. “Oklahoma has a dark, dark history with the property tax. It will never even be an option \u2014 politically \u2014 worth discussing when discussing tax reform.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s been a lot of talk lately about rejiggering Oklahoma\u2019s tax code.Task forces at the state Capitol are hoping to trim some fat by way of an array of state-subsidized credits, rebates, breaks and economic incentives that reduce the tax base.Meanwhile, Gov. Mary Fallin and other lawmakers are pushing to reduce or eliminate the personal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[492,16],"tags":[118,53,31,136,60,135],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1437"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1451,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions\/1451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/10\/murray.jpg\" "\\"murray\\"")
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