Organizations that provide professional development classes for Oklahoma teachers had to rethink their seminars in light of budget cuts.
revenue
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News briefs: House District 85 special election, Parks and Recreation Summer Kick-Off and more
Munson running Less than a year after losing a House race to an incumbent with name recognition and momentum, Cyndi Munson finds herself headed into a special election for House District 85. Munson, a Democrat, lost in November to Rep. David Dank, who had held the seat since 2007. Dank, 76, passed away last month, […]
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City sales tax falls short of expectations
<span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;color:black”>In a report issued to the city council this week, Oklahoma City’s combined sales and use taxes for the general fund were 2.3 percent below target for the year. By itself, sales tax collections were down 5 percent in March from initial forecasts. <span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New […]
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Face value
The issue has created a stir among several neighborhood associations that claim property values are declining because of the 12,000-plus vacant homes and buildings located throughout the city. As a result, the council on Dec. 3 approved the creation of a registry that will require owners of all vacant homes and commercial buildings to register […]
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The gap trap
While city revenue is expected to grow at a rate of around 3 percent, city Budget Director Doug Dowler told the council on Jan. 31, forecasts show overall expenditures are likely to increase at a rate of around 4.4 percent over the next five years. The biggest anticipated expenditure growth lies in personnel services and […]
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Online sales, offline ails
Cyber Monday 2011 was the largest online shopping day in history with $1.25 billion spent. While that doesn’t sound so bad for our national economy, it has a huge, negative impact on businesses and municipalities in Oklahoma. Businesses in Oklahoma are required to collect sales tax from their customers and remit to the state, with […]
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Online sales, offline ails
Cyber Monday 2011 was the largest online shopping day in history with $1.25 billion spent. While that doesn’t sound so bad for our national economy, it has a huge, negative impact on businesses and municipalities in Oklahoma. Businesses in Oklahoma are required to collect sales tax from their customers and remit to the state, with […]
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Optimistic thoughts
The municipal budget, which like many cities has taken a beating recently thanks to the recession, is projected to show enough increase to begin to restore some positions cut as a result of the revenue shortfalls in previous years, said city Budget Director Craig Freeman. The budget proposal at the next council meeting will be […]
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Point: ‘A new fiscal reality’
Funding to state agencies has been cut by more than $500 million, which is having a corrosive effect on our ability to invest in our future and promote the education, health, safety and economic well-being of Oklahomans. We have laid off teachers and increased class sizes, cut services to low-income seniors, eliminated preventive programs serving […]
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Firefight
The Oklahoma City firefighters’ union has come to a possible agreement with the city in this year’s contract negotiations. The firefighter’s union is the only city employee union that has yet to come to an agreement with the city for the current fiscal year. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the […]