Tulsa Mayor Says It Is A Bare Bones Budget For Next Fiscal Year

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett presented his budget plan to the Tulsa City Council Thursday night.

He says its bare bones. Bartlett says most city services will stay at their current level, and that includes the police department.

The laid off officers will not be rehired as a group, but could gradually to replace officers who retire.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett's idea of the budget basically keeps city services at the current level. Bartlett calls it "the new normal." To reflect higher costs, the budget includes higher rates for utilities, higher fines for tickets, higher fees for many other city services.

"We have found some opportunities we think the public will agree to, they are potential increases in fees or things that are already in place, and it will take a little investigation and evaluation for the council to agree to them, but I think they'll give a pretty good look at it," Mayor Bartlett said.

"There are a couple of things a lot of councilors will have some problems with," Rick Westcott, Tulsa City Councilor, said.

City Council Chair Rick Westcott says in particular billing citizens when the fire department responds a fire would be a hard sell.

The Bartlett budget plan has the city spending $230 million from the general fund. That's $1 million less than the past year. Bartlett says that's conservative enough to make mid-year cuts unlikely. It does not include money to rehire laid off police officers - except to replace veteran officers who retire.

"Yes, that's the assumption, we have 80 some officers who have been laid off, I don't know if they're still around the area, I assume they are, but that would be the first group we would approach to see if they would be interested in returning and I assume most of them would," Mayor Bartlett said.

The mayor's budget has one significant gap, no money for snow plowing. Bartlett wants the council to identify an increase somewhere to cover the expected $1 million cost.

All of this is up to the council now, which has two months to make changes.

Read the Mayor's letter to the City Council

Read the Mayor's speech to the City Council