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City Council Working on "Lockbox" for Vision Tulsa Public Safety Funding

City of Tulsa

Tulsa City Councilor Karen Gilbert is leading a charge to put Vision funding dedicated to public safety in a legal lockbox.

"Voters did approve this, and so I just want make sure that we stick to our word with this funding to those departments, police and fire, and making sure that we get to our goal to getting up to authorized strength," Gilbert said.

When voters approved the public safety tax, they also approved — whether or not they realized it — an ordinance saying it be spent to hire and equip 160 cops and 65 firefighters.

Councilor David Patrick said voters’ intent in approving the tax was clear.

"Although we all feel that way, councilors in the future, mayors in the future may not feel that way and can vote and go through the hoops and the process and stuff, and actually take every bit of that money away and put it somewhere else," Patrick said.

Gilbert's current proposal is to switch management of the tax revenue from an ordinance, which elected officials can change, to a city charter amendment, which only voters can change.

Voters must approve city charter amendments, though there are kinks to work out first.

One problem is the ordinance includes historic general fund floors and ceilings for police and fire spending. They were intended to give guidance to future administrations, but Councilor Anna America asked City Attorney Mark Swiney about their potential implications as part of a charter amendment.

"If we pass this charter amendment, if we raise $5 million for general fund, are you saying then that — whatever that total is — 61 percent of that additional new revenue would have to go into public safety?" America said.

"Those percentages would be locked in, yes, ma'am," Swiney said.

Swiney also raised concerns that a charter amendment would handcuff future mayors and councils when it comes to budgeting, which is not allowed, and that the process would confuse voters. Technically, to approve a charter amendment, voters would have to approve a measure revoking the current ordinance and installing the charter amendment.

Similar proposals are not in the works for Vision’s streets, transit or economic development pieces.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.