TULSA -- The first town hall meeting to renew the "Improve Our Tulsa" plan is tomorrow night. Tulsans are invited to tell city councilors how they want to prioritize funding to make Tulsa better.
In 2018, the City of Tulsa conducted a survey on quality of life. Officials say the top answer for what residents believe needs the most improvement is the roads.
"Obviously the roads, there’s a lot of construction going on right now so I can’t really tell you some that aren’t being worked on but I know the money has to come from somewhere," said Deborah Adcock, a Tulsa resident.
Improve Our Tulsa is a fund approved by voters in 2013 to fix streets and basic infrastructure in the city. This November, the city is asking once again for voters to check yes.
"We’re the only state in the country that doesn’t let cities use property tax for operations," said Mayor G.T. Bynum.
Because Tulsa relies on sales tax, if the economy takes a hit, public safety could also be affected.
"The last time you want to be laying off police officers is when your economy is going into decline because that’s when crime rates go up," said Mayor G.T. Bynum.
Some of the completed projects from Improve Our Tulsa includes the new playground at Lacy Park. Hunter Park also got new equipment, and McClure park got a new pool.
"Our city park system that weaves throughout the community is too often run down and in an embarrassing state of disrepair," said Mayor G.T. Bynum.
Improve Our Tulsa focuses on funding for street work, replacing police vehicles and fire trucks, and fixing playgrounds at parks.
"You want it to be safe obviously, so they can’t get hurt on it," said Adcock.
The meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Hardesty Regional Library is the first of five town hall meeting open to the public, before the vote on November 12th.
The other meetings are at these locations:
Tuesday, April 16 – Lewis and Clark Elementary School Auditorium, 737 S. Garnett Road (Spanish language interpreters will be available at this meeting.)
Tuesday, April 30 – Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium, 1514 E. Zion St.
Tuesday, May 7 – Jewish Federation of Tulsa Sylvan Auditorium, 2021 E.71st St.
Monday, May 13 – OU-Tulsa Schusterman Learning Center Perkins Auditorium, 4502 E. 41st St.
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