City Of Tulsa Make Changes To Next Year's Budget After Coronavirus Impact

The City of Tulsa is making changes to next year's budget because of expected shortfalls.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said the budget reflects basic priorities while accounting for a drop in tax revenue.

The city has seen a huge drop in sales taxes during the COVID-19 outbreak. That's why Mayor Bynum said they had to scrap their budget and adjust everything in the past six weeks.

Bynum said there are no exciting new initiatives and opportunities to better serve Tulsans in next year's budget because of COVID-19. He told council members today, it's now all about working together to serve Tulsans at the existing levels.

"The events of March and April have caused a significant change in what we were planning to do," Bynum said.

Bynum said the revenue picture is challenging. Since Oklahoma does not allow cities to use property tax for operations, Tulsa relies heavily on sales tax. As the two historical indicators for sales tax performance - employment and oil prices - have plummeted, so has the revenue the city has to work with.

City staff are projecting the general fund revenues, which fund core services, to decline by nearly $13 million next fiscal year, which starts July 1st. That would put general fund revenues at about $257 million. Right now, the city isn't detailing any planned cuts.

"The current mix of economic crises is unprecedented for our city. We do not have an easy road map to follow," Bynum said.

Last week, City of Tulsa employees were furloughed, except for fire, police, 911 personnel and utilities. The employees won't work Friday afternoons from next month until the end of the year.

The mayor and his staff are taking a 10 percent pay cut, and the city will freeze hiring and travel for city employees.

Bynum said this budget is for planning and isn't chiseled in stone -- and there's hope for Tulsans after the outbreak.

"The long-term picture for our city remains bright, but we must pursue a responsible recourse in the near term to get there," Bynum said.

Bynum also expects the city will have to take a few million dollars from its rainy-day fund over the next couple of years.