From Tulsa World

A City Council task force made plans Thursday to hear from a broad range of officials detailing efficient ways to spend a proposed tax for public safety.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett, who proposed the dedicated tax, said he plans to work with the City Council on the task force.

“This came as a result of our desire to focus on a dedicated funding source to get a significant number of new police officers, firefighters and street personnel,” Bartlett said.

But part of the discussion Thursday focused on finding out whether there are other spending options that would more efficiently help public safety.

Options like better street lighting, street striping, sidewalks and other ideas were discussed as possibly helping the officers and firefighters do their jobs better.

Bartlett said if other priorities to help public safety are identified, the proposed amount of the tax is still flexible.

“We’ll see how it evolves,” Bartlett said. “We’re not stuck on any particular amount yet.”

Bartlett recently proposed the city tax that would capture one-third of the 0.6 percent Vision 2025 sales tax when it expires at the end of 2016.

Bartlett said the task force discussions will lead to the final proposal, which could range from a 0.2 percent tax to a 0.3 percent tax, depending on the need.

Bartlett has said he expects the final proposal to go on a ballot for voters sometime next year.

Task force officials planned a top-to-bottom look at public safety, to include inviting speakers from many departments, as well as officials from other cities.

Thursday’s meeting also included a review of many past task force recommendations and studies about public safety.

Councilor G.T. Bynum said he hopes this task force will do what past efforts weren’t able to do.

“It seems like we’ve done a good job at nibbling around it,” Bynum said.

The difference this time, Bynum said, is Bartlett’s tax proposal actually focuses on adding personnel — an objective past efforts never found the funding to complete.

- Public safety task force connects mayor to council on tax proposal - Tulsa World: Crimewatch