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	FOX23 BREAKING WEATHER ALERT: EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING

Safety Tax Debated

Reported by: Douglas Clark
Email: dclark@fox23.com
Last Update: 2/09 10:46 pm

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Tulsa City Council Debates Sales Tax

The debate over raising your taxes to pay for public safety continues. As Fox 23’s Douglas Clark tells us, it's anything but a done deal.

Tuesday councilors debated the pros and cons. Some said the last thing the city needs now is a new tax. But Councilor Jack Henderson said it’s necessary for getting the city back on its feet.

“This city is going down the tubes and it’s going down the tubes fast,” says Henderson.

City Councilor Jack Henderson admits to going out on a political limb proposing a one penny sales tax hike to fund public safety. But in his opinion, there are few options left.

“We are at the point where we need to find other ways to get money to run this city,” says Henderson.

If passed, Tulsa would join nine other cities in the state with a dedicated public safety tax. The fourth penny would generate an estimated $67 million to fund Tulsa’s police, fire, and parks departments and free up money to restore other services, like turning highway lights back on.

“We need a public safety tax. We need it now and we need it badly,” says Henderson.

But before it goes to voters it has to pass through a skeptical council.

“One of the things we could do to really torture our economy would be to raise taxes,” says Councilor John Eagleton.

“I just don’t think that a dedicated public safety tax is the way to go to solve the problem,” says Councilor Rick Westcott.

“I’m afraid it might make us less competitive with other cities,” says Councilor G.T. Bynum.

This proposed tax is designed to restore staffing levels at the police department, but would likely not be used to hire additional officers.

Councilors plan to debate the issue further in the coming weeks.

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