Tulsa Mayor's Budget Plan Includes Pools, Police

Pools and police are in the budget as the Mayor unveiled his new spending plan for Tulsa.

Dewey Bartlett wants the city to start spending more money without compromising the city's financial stability.

The proposal is more than $700 million, which is an increase of about $60 million from last year. Mayor Bartlett says the budget is slowly getting back to where it was before the economy tanked.

Read The 2012-2013 Budget Plan

Bartlett says the new budget is a continuation of what citizens said they wanted to see during a survey last year.

"Everything from beautification to economic development and public safety, all those types of things are reflected in this budget," Mayor Bartlett said.

Residents will pay more for water and sewage, about $3.74 more a month for the average home. The new budget would allow the city to absorb $2 million in expiring grants that have been used to hire several police officers and firefighters.

It also funds the first Tulsa Police Reserve Academy in four years. The academy would pay for 40 reserve officers.

"That's a group of people who can really take over a lot of responsibilities where a sworn police officer is now involved," Bartlett said.

The mayor wants to pump $113 million into the Fix Our Streets program, which is an increase of $40 million from last year.

Projects like the demolition of dilapidated structures, increased mowing on city property, as well as the opening of five swimming pools this summer will continue to be funded under the proposed budget.

Several one-time-budget items are also included, like $150,000 for the intermodal study. The city wants to maximize the transportation of goods by air, road, rail and water, like other major cities have.

"Our financial responsibility is now ours and we don't have to rely on the federal government near as much as we did before," he said.

Mayor Bartlett admits the budget is not very aggressive, but says he's comfortable with being financially conservative in this economy.

Aside from spending, the city saved $2 million on city vehicle repairs thanks to an efficiency study. The city council will tweak the proposal over the next few months before voting on it.