Say yes to better streets, safer city

On Sept. 12, Oklahoma City voters will be asked to make a reinvestment in our city through three critical bond and sales tax initiatives. The initiatives focus on improving the quality of our streets and investing in public safety.

The permanent 0.25-cent sales tax would help hire 129 more police officers and 57 more firefighters with an annual $26 million boost for public safety and other day-to-day operations. It would be the first increase in the permanent general operations sales tax rate in over 40 years.

The second initiative is a temporary penny sales tax to improve the quality of our roads. This 27-month continuation of the expiring MAPS 3 penny sales tax would generate $240 million for street resurfacing, streetscapes, trails, sidewalks and bicycle infrastructure.

The third initiative is the 2017 general obligation bond. GO bonds use property tax revenue to fund basic and critical infrastructure needs such as streets, bridges, sidewalks, parks and drainage.

Read the full article at The Journal Record