Oklahoma

Oklahoma County commissioners postponed a proposed March bond election for a new jail to avoid conflicts with municipal and school board elections.

DALLAS – Weakening state revenue growth indicates a slackened pace for Oklahoma's economic recovery in 2012, State Treasurer Ken Miller said.

Oklahoma lawmakers can appropriate up to $7 billion in FY 2014 under a revised revenue outlook adopted Dec. 20, almost $215 million more than in FY 2013.

The Oklahoma Legislature will be asked to authorize $42.5 million of state bonds to build a proposed popular culture museum in Tulsa.

Tulsa County Independent School District No. 1 may ask voters for a general obligation bond authorization that would focus on education technology.

Oklahoma revenues in November failed to match last year’s totals as energy production tax collections remained anemic, Treasurer Ken Miller said.

Oklahoma County voters may be asked in March to approve a tax increase for a bond issue to finance a new detention center in downtown Oklahoma City expected to cost $350 million.

DALLAS – A plan to issue $25 million of state lease revenue bonds to repair a Tulsa dam was unanimously rejected as unconstitutional Tuesday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Broken Arrow officials said they may ask for a bond referendum in 2014 after Tulsa County voters earlier this month rejected an extension of a sales tax that would have provided the city with a total of $44 million.

A broader sales tax base in Oklahoma could provide the revenue needed to slash the top income tax rate, House Speaker pro tem Jeff Hickman said Monday.

Oklahoma general fund collections were up 9% in October due to gains in personal income tax revenue and improvements in the tax on oil and natural gas production.

Lowering the state income tax rate will depend on removing ineffective tax credits and rebates from the books, Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, said.

The Internal Revenue Service is examining almost $40.63 million of variable rate student loan bonds and notes issued by the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority in 2002.

An Oklahoma state audit of the half-completed American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City criticized the facility’s spending but found no financial wrongdoing.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $110.4 million of communication system revenue bonds that were issued in 2007 by Lafayette, La. to finance startup costs of the city-owned utility that sells television, Internet and telephone services to residents.

The Oklahoma Resources Water Board will finance its loan program for local governments with a negotiated sale of $85.3 million of triple-A rated revolving fund revenue bonds Oct. 23 and 24

The end of a two-year Oklahoma energy tax credit hiatus is causing a lag in revenues from the state tax on natural gas production, Finance Director Preston Doerflinger said.

Oklahoma state revenues from oil and gas production taxes fell below year-earlier totals again in September, but Treasurer Ken Miller says the worst may be over.

Proponents of the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa will ask the 2013 Legislature for a $42.5 million bond issue.

Oklahoma must reform its corporate tax incentive system before lowering the personal income tax rate, Rep. David Dank said. Failure in 2013 as in 2012 is not an option, he said.