Voters to Decide on Tulsa Tourism Package November 7th

Friday, August 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsans will have another big issue on the November ballot. Thursday night, the Tulsa City Council decided to leave it up to voters to decide the fate of a $225,000,000 tourism package that would give the city a new arena and a refurbished convention center.

It took several hours for counselors to decide to turnover the tourism package to the voters. Voters would foot the bill with a half-cent sales tax and a one-and a-half cent entertainment tax. If the issue passes, the Convention Center will be expanded, an arena will be built and a trolley system will be installed to shuttle people to Tulsa's entertainment hot spots.

The proposed taxes would be collected for almost five years. Tulsaâ€™s tourism and convention tax force has been working on the plan for two years. Members of the committee say Tulsa is falling behind other cities when it comes to attracting conventions and sporting events because of limited facilities. Tulsa City Counselors all agreed that much is true. Itâ€™s the funding for the package that had them disagreeing.

The city council will look at the proposal again next week. They reserve the right to amend their decision. If the proposal stays the way it is, voters will get their say about it on November 7th.