Oklahoma

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.

State revenues in June topped $1 billion, Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller announced last week, up $134.5 million from June 2010.

The Oklahoma City suburb of Norman has created a rainy-day fund that sets a target of 4.5% of general fund expenditures.

DALLAS — The Oklahoma Supreme Court declined Monday to hear arguments in a lawsuit contending that the use of $101.7 million of highway tax revenues to balance the state’s fiscal 2012 budget was unconstitutional.

Strong revenues over the last few months will help put more than the expected $71 million into Oklahoma’s rainy-day fund, which now contains a total of $2.03.

DALLAS — The plan to balance Oklahoma's $6.5 billion budget with a diversion of highway tax revenues has been challenged as unconstitutional by an Oklahoma City attorney.

One of the last acts by the Oklahoma Legislature before it adjourned last week was the creation of a 10-member panel that will study state tax exemptions and exclusions and determine those that are no longer useful.

DALLAS — Steady growth in Oklahoma revenues over the past 12 months indicates the state is recovering from the Great Recession, Treasurer Ken Miller said at a news conference on Thursday.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said last week time is running out on a proposal to provide $40 million of state revenue bonds for construction of an arts and entertainment museum in Tulsa.

DALLAS — The Oklahoma Legislature will begin considering a budget bill Thursday after Gov. Mary Fallin and fellow Republican leaders reached agreement on a $6.5 billion spending plan for fiscal 2012.

The Oklahoma Historical Society is asking the Legislature to approve $40 million of 20-year bonds to build a music and popular culture museum in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District, along with a parking garage.

Oklahoma agencies may see their budgets cut next year by 7% or more rather than the less-severe cuts sought earlier as lawmakers and Gov. Mary Fallin continue to negotiate the fiscal 2012 budget.

DALLAS — Retail and institutional investors alike were attracted to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s negotiated $142.9 million revenue bond sale on Tuesday and Wednesday.