Oklahoma City Council adopts Fiscal Year 2022 budget

Oklahoma City Council adopts Fiscal Year 2022 budget

The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday adopted the City Manager’s budget for Fiscal Year 2022, which begins July 1.

“This past year has been extremely challenging, and I am so proud of the way City staff have adapted to this new environment and continue to provide excellent services to our residents,” said City Manager Craig Freeman. “Fiscal Year 2022 is a year we are looking forward to with great anticipation. We hope to be able to put the most significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and not only restore previous service levels, but also provide even better service to our residents and visitors.”

Budget overview

The total FY 2022 City of Oklahoma City budget is about $1.6 billion, which is 2.4% smaller than the current fiscal year.

The slight decrease is because of declining balances in the pay-as-you-go MAPS 3 and Better Streets, Safer City temporary sales tax funds as those programs wind down. Also, only current-year MAPS 4 revenue is included in the budget because the program is in its early stages, and an implementation plan is not yet in place.

The General Fund, which pays for most day-to-day operations, is projected to grow by 6.8% to about $496 million. Projected sales and use tax growth as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic is the primary driver in this year’s bigger General Fund.

There are 4,866 funded employee positions in the FY 2022 budget, an increase of 109 from the current fiscal year. It’s slightly lower than the pre-pandemic total of 4,869 funded positions.

Budget highlights

Every employee position in the FY 2022 budget is fully funded. As a budget reduction strategy in the current fiscal year, some positions were “frozen” – included in the budget, but unfunded. All funding for these frozen positions has been restored in the new budget: 21 in the Fire Department, 34 in the Police Department and the Chief Innovation Officer position.

• The proposed budget includes $300,000 for a mental health response component in the Police Department, and $1 million to fund future City Council-approved recommendations from task forces and working groups on community policing, human rights and homelessness.

• Public safety items include restoring the Fire Department overtime funding cut from the current fiscal year, and three new civilian crime scene investigators for the Police Department. The investigators can support officers and detectives to help improve clearance rates and lead to successful prosecutions.

Parks, recreation and culture

• The normal two-week OKC Parks mowing schedule is restored in the budget, after reducing the schedule to every three weeks as part of the current year’s cuts. New OKC Parks staffing is also included for the Willa D. Johnson Recreation Center, which is scheduled to open during FY 2022.

• The First American Museum is also scheduled to open this fall, and the budget includes $750,000 in operating support for what will be Oklahoma City’s newest international cultural attraction bringing visitors from around the globe.

Neighborhoods, human services and transportation

• A new position in Homeless Services in the Planning Department will boost efforts to end homelessness in Oklahoma City, in partnership with the Amall Family Foundation and the Inasmuch Foundation.

• Service enhancements on EMBARK bus Route 018 in northeast OKC will increase frequency to every half-hour from every hour. The Spokies bike share and Oklahoma River Cruises services, which had been cut in the current year and restored with temporary funding, are back in full.

• A new bike lane maintenance crew for Public Works will help keep up with our increasing bike-friendly infrastructure.

Business and employers

• A proposed new Public Works position is dedicated to ensuring local contractors are aware of and know how to bid and work on City projects.

• The Utilities Department has two new proposed positions to help Tinker Air Force Base become a part of the City’s water and wastewater system