The City of Broken Arrow's Fiscal Year 2025 budget, totaling $472,198,240, received unanimous approval from the City Council on June 18.
The annual budget process allows the Council and the administration to reassess local government priorities, evaluate service levels, and take a deliberate and measured approach to planning strategies and implementation. Broken Arrow will continue to focus on its vision, mission, and opportunities by prioritizing the following, according to City Manager Michael Spurgeon:
- Public safety services and community well-being.
- Economic Development—focusing on initiatives that promote growth and prosperity.
- Innovative municipal government operations.
- Maintaining fiscal sustainability and making strategic public investments.
- Transformational initiatives that help maintain a thriving and healthy community.
- Transparency and communication.
As such, the budget for upcoming FY-2025 (July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025) addresses appropriations for public safety, street maintenance, capital improvements, economic development administration, and municipal operations.
FY-2024 is ending strong with an estimated net income of more than $4 million in the general fund. FY-2025's overall budget increased 33.05 percent over FY-2024's $354,890,776 budget. Due to inflation, supply-chain issues, and the availability of supplies, every project and initiative costs more. However, the City's bond rating remains unchanged at Aa3, which ensures that Broken Arrow gets the best rates when issuing bonds. The city has maintained a conservative approach to resource utilization while balancing operational needs, resulting in a strong general fund balance and bond rating.
FY-2025's expected expenses include:
- Operational expenses— $165,444,637 (6.5 percent increase)
- Capital outlay—$267,160,803 (63.29 percent increase)
- Debt service—$39,592,800 (10.1 percent increase)
Mayor Debra Wimpee said the $267 million capital outlay for infrastructure improvements is much needed.
"Almost half of the budget is going toward the infrastructure improvements that the people voted for," Mayor Wimpee said. "These infrastructure improvements are necessary because we're rapidly growing, and we've got to stay on top of it."
The City Manager agreed and noted the most significant increase in the budget is in the capital outlay.
"We're planning on spending approximately $267 million on projects already in the life cycle, and that's a 63 percent increase over last year," Spurgeon said. "That's for roads, streets, sidewalks, and utilities. We have a very robust capital improvement program, which is needed to maintain our services and expand our community to accommodate the growth we're experiencing."
Unlike other states, Oklahoma funds municipal government through sales taxes. Broken Arrow is part of both Tulsa and Wagoner Counties. Tulsa County charges 8.417 percent sales tax, and Wagoner County charges 9.35 percent. Of that, Broken Arrow receives 3.55 percent of the combined sales tax to fund public safety, streets, economic development initiatives, and more.
Specifically, the City's General Fund receives 2.5 percent, with 1.0 percent of that transferred to the Broken Arrow Municipal Authority (BAMA). BAMA allocates funding to the Finance, General Services, Solid Waste and Recycling, Engineering/Construction, Streets/Stormwater, and Utilities Departments.
The Police and Fire Departments receive 0.3 percent, the Sales Tax Capital Improvement Program (STCI) receives 0.5 percent, and the Streets Fund receives 0.25 percent.
"Because of the tax model of the state, the city is in competition with other communities for the dollars available to generate sales tax," Spurgeon said. "It's important that we're out trying to recruit new businesses, as well as getting new developers to reinvest as we make public investments."
Spurgeon said City leaders will continue working with legislators to secure perpetual and more sustainable funding options.
"It's tough when you have such an elastic form of revenue," Spurgeon said. "We plan for today, but we're always looking ahead to tomorrow. We provide services today, but we always try to ensure we have the resources and a plan to handle the growth coming to our community."
A utility rate increase is projected in the FY-2025 budget and will be reviewed and possibly approved by the City Council in August or September. This increase is necessary due to the rising cost of goods and services essential to maintaining the City's utility infrastructure and helping fund capital improvement projects for the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Loan programs through the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
The budget process, which began in late 2023, included a public budget workshop in May detailing budget requests from each of the City's departments. On June 3, the City Manager and Finance Director, Cynthia Arnold, presented the budget to the City Council for consideration and public comment, followed by the vote on June 18.
The City of Broken Arrow manages more than 30 different funds. The budget is a blueprint for municipal services for the coming year and matches resources with the community's needs. It focuses on the City's long-term financial sustainability, conservatively establishes revenues and expenditures, ensures all funds balance, and has built-in contingencies for the unexpected. To view the budget in its entirety, go to BrokenArrowOK.gov/Finance.
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