Oklahomans reap what they pay -- and more

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- No matter how you figure it, Oklahoma gets more federal tax money sent back to the state that it pays Uncle Sam. <br><br>The Tax Foundation and government spending analysts at Harvard

Monday, April 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- No matter how you figure it, Oklahoma gets more federal tax money sent back to the state that it pays Uncle Sam.

The Tax Foundation and government spending analysts at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government disagree on how much more Oklahoma gets than it contributes to federal coffers.

But both agree that the state enjoys a surplus.

David Strawn, an economist with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce said the results of the surveys aren't all that surprising.

"We're a low-income state, so we are going to pay less in federal income tax," he said.

Strawn said the smaller federal tax payments combined with a higher percentage of elderly residents and the growth in defense spending easily makes the state a net recipient.

The Tax Foundation shows for every $1 paid in federal taxes by Oklahomans, the state gets $1.41 back in federal spending.

Foundation economist Sam Moody studies federal tax and spending patterns. He said Oklahoma's take versus federal taxes paid in has risen steadily in the past decade. Numbers show Oklahoma's ratio rising to 10th in the nation.

New Mexico ranks at the top of the list, receiving $1.94 in federal spending for every $1 in taxes paid. Some other high-ranking states include West Virginia at $1.69; Mississippi,$1.60; Montana, $1.58; and North Dakota, $1.57.

Economists from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government figure the ratio based on total amount the state gets per year versus what is paid in per capita.

"Since 1987, Oklahoma has had a balance of payments surplus, which is now over $1,700 (per person, per year)," they wrote in the Federal Budget and the States in 1998. That's up from 1983,when the state had one of the largest deficits.

The Harvard study indicated that the state gets $1,717 per person more than residents and businesses pay in federal taxes.

The Department of Defense spent $2.5 billion in 1998 in Oklahoma on procurement contracts and civilian and military employees' salaries.

The federal government spent $19.8 billion in Oklahoma in 1998, ranking the state 29th. Texas received $140.1 billion, with $38.4 billion going to Missouri and $26.6 billion to Colorado.

Florida was tops with $292.5 billion, followed by California with $254.1 billion.

Oklahoma ranked 20th in the "pork barrel" spending numbers released by the Citizens Against Government Waste.

The group's annual Pig Book detailed close to $18 billion it called pork-barrel projects.

Oklahomans got $34.28 in pork per capita, with the national average coming in at $25.92.

Alaska received $636 per person, followed by Hawaii with $264.

The group singled out projects like $500,000 to Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, for trees for the Olympics, and $1 million to Rep. Julian Dixon, D-Calif., for a dinosaur exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of History.