Oklahoma

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said last week she was “very embarrassed” by the deteriorating condition of the state capitol building in Oklahoma City.

Former Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge told a legislative panel last week that the state should not eliminate its income tax without finding another revenue source.

Moody’s Investors Service said it is taking no immediate rating action after the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a $7.1 million settlement between Tulsa and the Bank of Oklahoma on a loan default.

Voters in Edmond, Okla., last week overwhelmingly approved a 0.5% increase in the city’s sales tax to build a $25.5 million police station after rejecting a similar $31.5 million proposal in 2008 by a 61% margin.

Oklahoma is losing $185 million to $225 million a year in sales tax revenues to online marketers, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission said last week in remarks to a legislative panel studying the state’s tax exemptions and exclusions.

DALLAS - Steady growth in Oklahoma's revenue collection is a sign that its economy is strengthening, Treasurer Ken Miller said Tuesday.

DALLAS - Oklahoma would replace or rebuild 706 sub-par bridges on state highways by 2019 without raising taxes or fees under a modernization plan outlined Monday by Gov. Mary Fallin.

DALLAS - The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will reduce its exposure to the vagaries of variable-rate debt and cut its debt service costs with next week's negotiated sale of $521.7 million of revenue refunding bonds.

Voters handily approved a request last week for $90.5 million of general obligation bonds by Oklahoma County Independent School District No. 52. The measure passed with 81% in favor from the more than 4,300 voters going to the polls.

The chairman and co-chair of a state tax reform panel last week urged the group to support a gradual elimination of Oklahoma’s personal income tax.

Oklahoma revenue collections resumed their double-digit increases in August after dipping into single-digit territory in July, state Treasurer Ken Miller said last week.

DALLAS - Oklahoma faces financial obstacles in meeting its water needs over the next 50 years, according to a draft action plan developed by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.

Oklahoma’s seven state pension funds earned almost $4 billion during fiscal 2011, moving up to $21.5 billion from $17.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2011.

The Bond Oversight Commission will hear a request Thursday from the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority for $178 million of 20-year revenue bonds. The authority will use the proceeds to add lanes to road sections in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

A 2011 bill transferring $101.7 million from a highway transportation revolving fund into the general fund was constitutional, Oklahoma solicitor general Patrick Wyrick contended last week in a hearing before a state Supreme Court referee.

Voters in the Tulsa suburb of Owasso will go to the polls Oct. 11 to decide on a two-part public improvement program totaling $25 million of general obligation bonds.

DALLAS - Oklahoma put $249.2 million of fiscal 2011 revenues into its rainy-day fund on Monday, up from July's estimate of a $219 million deposit.

Revenue collections were up in July from a year ago, Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller said last week, though the string of double-digit increases from 2010 was broken.

Trustees of Oklahoma County Independent School District No. 52 last week set an election for Sept. 13 on a request for $90.5 million of bonds. The board also approved a list of projects to be financed with the proceeds.

Oklahoma will transfer $219 million into its rainy-day fund, which had dropped to a mere $2.03 — the largest deposit into the reserve fund since the end of fiscal 2005.