Tulsa City Council To Consider Adding Public Safety Fees To Utility Bills

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The price of protection could be going up in Tulsa as the city council considers a new fee to support public safety.

It does not have the support of the mayor but the city council is thinking about adding a fee on utility bills that would prop up the budgets for the police and fire departments.

While the mayor is announcing tentative deals to reduce the pay for police and fire, city councilor Chris Trail says the city could have an extra source of income for them by springtime.

Trail wants to copy the existing EMSA fee on Tulsa utility bills and use the money for police, fire and even parks.

Trail said parks are also a crime deterrent and can help give kids places to go to stay off the streets.

The city council will consider the extra fee this week. It could be added to utility bills within three months, if it is fast tracked and unopposed.

Just like the EMSA fee, Tulsa residents could choose not to pay it.

"We're not forcing people to do this, regular  people could option in and out of it," Chris Trail said.

The EMSA fee supports part of the cost of transporting patients but not all of it.

The EMSA fee is $3.64 a month. That is expected to bring in about $4.8 million this year.

The public safety fee would add $1.50 a month each for the police and fire departments, plus .25 cents a month for parks.

The fee would add up to $3.25 a month for utility customers, bringing in at least $4.2 million dollars a year for the city.

Chris Trail says the idea came from his restaurant customers who say they are willing to pay more to support public safety.

Trail said that a lot of citizens want to help and are having trouble finding a way to help and this option would give them a way to do so.

The city council could vote on it Thursday at city hall.

Chris Trail's idea is just one of the budget items being looked into to work on some longer term solutions.