Horse industry contributes nearly $180 million to local economy

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The horse industry contributes more than 180 (m) million dollars in economic benefits to Oklahoma City's economy. <br/><br/>That's according to a new study released by the

Saturday, September 11th 2004, 6:11 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The horse industry contributes more than 180 (m) million dollars in economic benefits to Oklahoma City's economy.

That's according to a new study released by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

The 15 equine events hosted by the city each year bring in 111 (m) million dollars in direct local spending and directly support more than 27-hundred jobs and 43 (m) million dollars in payroll.

The release of the study comes as members of the City Council are proposing a special election that would raise the city's hotel room tax to support improvements in horse venues at State Fair Park.

The council is expected to vote Tuesday on a Dec. 14 special election that would raise the hotel room tax from the current 2 percent to 5.5 percent.

Money from the tax would be used to upgrade facilities at the State Fair Park.