OKC SPANISH NEWS

Oklahoma City’s MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects) program received two coveted environmental awards during the National Brownfields Conference held in New Orleans this week. The awards were the Phoenix Award and Renewal Award. Oklahoma City received the Phoenix Award from the Phoenix Awards Institute for remediation and redevelopment excellence as a result of MAPS, which was credited by judges for transforming blighted and contaminated areas of downtown into thriving business districts.

“Downtown Oklahoma City’s remarkable revival as a result of MAPS is one of the best success stories in the country,” said Planning Director Russell Claus. “Cities around the country are attempting to reproduce our visionary model.” According to a study released recently by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and economic consultant Larkin Warner, the total value of new investment projects related to MAPS from the mid-1990s through 2008 totaled about $3.1 billion. With the start of construction on the new Devon Tower, that number is now closer to $4 billion, and that is only the impact on the downtown area. It does not measure numerous other positive flow-on impacts in the broader community. The Phoenix Awards are presented to outstanding revitalization projects in each of 10 Environmental Protection Agency regions.

The winning projects were selected by a panel of environmental professionals and business and government leaders based on magnitude of the project, innovative techniques, solutions to regulatory or social issues and impact on the community.

MAPS also received “Brownfield Renewal” magazine’s first Renewal Award for economic impact. “In a time of economic upheaval and downtrending, the City of Oklahoma City\\\'s Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) provides a stellar example of what can be done to revitalize cities and bring back new growth and life to what was formerly a struggling major metropolitan area,” said Therese Carpenter, an environmental scientist and one of the eight Renewal Award judges. Carpenter’s assessment was borne out by a string of recent announcements about the resilience of the Oklahoma City economy relative to the rest of the country. The original MAPS initiative was a five-and-a-half year-long penny sales tax approved by City voters in December 1993. Funds collected built the Bricktown Ballpark, Ford Center, Ronald J. Norick Downtown library and Bricktown canal. It also renovated the Cox Convention Center, State Fairgrounds, Civic Center Music Hall and North Canadian River. More than $309 million was collected during the 66 months the penny sales tax was in effect.

You say that $309 million dollars was collected in the 66 months of the one cent sales tax? That is roughly $46.8 million dollars a year in tax collection! And this was during a good econemy? The MAPS# players are claiming that our new projects will be paid for with a 7 year tax that will collect approx. $100 million dollars a year In a bad econemy! I think someone is optemistic!

Jan. 2009 tax collections were right at $8 million for MAPS for Kids. That works out to a $96 million dollar annual collection. Monthly tax receipts during M4K rose steadily. Yes, in this bad economy, tax collections would be down, but as the economy recovers and as the anticipated inflation kicks in, tax collections should end up well above the $100 million annual mark. Whether this will be enough to cover inflation in construction costs is another issue but simple budgetary analysis of where they were in M4K tells you that $100 million is a very reasonable projection.

I can understand your mathmatics and agree that if all months were like Jan 09 then it would be 96 million plus. However, I have to look at the previous long term collections of 66 months and believe that this represents a full picture of tax collection trends. In contrast, to accept that one month's tax collections is indicative of the rest of the year is somewhat short sighted. I mean, every year in any economy is going to have swings in the amount of tax collections for each month during the year. For instance, December and January will be more than september due to Christmas and New years spending. Same with August being higher due to back to school spending. So to take January's numbers which are typically high, and believe that all months will match that amount is, again very optimistic. But I can appreciate your point of view.

Also, I agree that the budgetary issues due to inflation and increased construction costs may very well be an issue. One more thing, Has anyone taken into account the remediation of the soil that will have to be done for EPA. Remember that the whole "park" area was once a big oil field followed by industrial industy. The rules and regs today are certainly more restrictive than they once were. I know that a 1.5 million dollar construction site near the East end of Bricktown recently ran into an unplanned remediation roadblock of 3 million dollars due to contaminated soil. Surely someone figured these costs into the big plan? Hmmmm?

Actually, the original MAPS tax was collected from 1994 to 1999. Oklahoma City was still recovering from the oil bust, and did not fully recover until 1998. So, while the national economy was robust in the 1990's, OKC's economy in those years was not so hot. In fact, when MAPS passed in 1993, unemployment in OKC was slightly higher than now. In 1993, Oklahoma City's per capita income was only 87% of the national average, whereas today Oklahoma City's per capita income is 107% of the national average.

So, the notion that MAPS will fail in today's "bad" economy has been dismissed.

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You didn't read my post closely. I stated that this was the Jan. 09 collection but if you go to the finance and economics pages of the Maps for Kids project, you will see this is the last reported month of collections over the life of M4K. The trend over the entire period was gradually upward. Jan.09 was the last reported and largest collection but the prior year was basically each month slightly more than the next - always tracking upward.

I would agree these numbers will probably have dropped some due to the economic downturn but not by a huge amount. As we pull out of the current slump, the numbers will return to higher and higher collections since OKC is still growing in population, tourism increases and inflation will boost overall prices, thus increasing tax collections. $100 million will end up being on the low side.

Sorry but my financial numbers come right off the monthly budget reports.

Mug, regarding your numbers. Without varification by going back through the budgets, or the C.M. tax reports, I'll take your word for it. I have no reason to doubt your figures. However there were a couple of things that came to mind. This may, or may not matter, but Jan. 2009 is not in the current fiscal year. If you know off the top of your head what were the July numbers?

Also, I believe the C.M. has told the Department heads to submit a mid-year budget reduction of 2%. I also believe they were informed to plan on the cut to continue on into FY/10-11. So, if I'm correct, it appears as though the C.M. sees the next 12 to 18 months as somewhat gloomy. But who knows, which way things will go.

We must be living right. I mean think about it. First we got the news regarding the the Ford factory, then came the rave updated review of the Ford Center, now this. We sure are lucky, all this good news could not have come at a more opportune time. Like they say timing is everything. Rumor has it that Oprah has said she won't retire if MAPS passes.

I've always been in the habit of posting good news that I find, as people who read here regularly undoubtedly know. This simply is what came up on the search engines today. And none of these awards or responses were generated within the city, management or otherwise. They were all from outside agencies.

I am aware of your habit. I understand they all came from outside sources. I was just pointing out our streak of good luck in the good news department.

I am aware of your habit. I understand they all came from outside sources. I was just pointing out our streak of good luck in the good news department. Thats all.

Understand your concerns as I had many of the same thoughts but have done the math and the City's numbers on revenue seem solid. Even in the down economy.
A more detailed response is in the Retraction thread found here:
http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...-concerns.html

Now back to topic...