City Manager Michael Spurgeon discussed the costs of widening roads and improving infrastructure during his March bi-monthly 2026 General Obligation Bond update to the citizens and the City Council.
“To widen a road from two to three lanes is $7 million, that’s one mile, probably without a bridge. The cost to go from two to five lanes is $10 million, and that’s in 2025 money,” Spurgeon said. “The cost to turn an intersection from a non-fully functioning intersection without a turn lane to an intersection with a turn lane or two left turn lanes is between $3 million and $4 million.”
Likewise, he says building a fire station will cost between $9 million to $11 million by the time it is ready to start construction.
“We’re talking about Warren Buffet money here,” Spurgeon said.
Watch City Manager Michael Spurgeon discuss the General Obligation Bond process here on The Vibe Broken Arrow podcast on YouTube.
 Mayor Debra Wimpee pointed out that there is a need for education on why the bond is necessary.
“Oklahoma is the only state that funds its cities through sales tax, so most people do not understand the reason why bond packages are so important to cities,” Wimpee said.
Spurgeon says there isn’t enough revenue to pay for the bigger ticket item projects, and that’s why a bond is needed. All available sales tax for operations is dedicated to public safety.
The $7 million or $8 million the City receives in the Capital Improvement Programs will fund smaller capital projects like purchasing trucks and vehicles for the City departments and basic items.
“If we don’t have the bond package and voters don’t approve this, then it becomes very challenging to maintain the streets that we have, the aging city utilities, the ripple effect would be negative in every single aspect,” Spurgeon said.
Spurgeon, the City Council, and City staff are committed to transparency and keeping the public informed throughout the process, culminating with the vote in April 2026. That's why the City Manager is providing updates twice a month at the regular City Council meetings. There will also be public forums, Meet & Greets, and various other opportunities for the public to engage in the bond conversation.
“Our voters have always shown a propensity to support bond packages but there is no better time in history for transparency and communication about why these are important,” Spurgeon said.
New residents from other states that fund their cities differently than Oklahoma may not realize the importance of these bond packages to maintaining and improving Oklahoma cities.
“So, it is incumbent upon the Council and the administration to provide that public education,” Spurgeon said.
Part of the education initiative will come in a series of letters that the City Manager’s office will be sending out to citizens by way of the utility bills.
The first one will provide an update on the bond process. It will be a general overview of where the City stands on the 2018 bond projects.
“I’m very proud to say, based on the information I’ve received from staff, there were 88 projects in the 2018 bond package, and 75 percent of the projects have been completed or are in the process of construction or in some phase of the cycle,” Spurgeon said. “So that’s amazing, just after seven years, and obviously, we have a number of projects to go.”
A second letter will go out to the citizens in July. It will announce the dates and locations for the public forums that will be scheduled around Labor Day. It will also provide an update on the Council’s actions in June. A third letter will discuss what happened at the public forums regarding the Council's project selection process. The fourth letter in early January or February 2026 will announce the final package the City Council will include in the bond.
He says difficult choices will be made in the coming months when it comes to prioritizing the projects based on the anticipated funds that will be available from the bond. The Engineering and Construction Department is working with the user groups on prioritizing and refining their lists of projects.
The City Manager is asking citizens to fill out the Parks and Recreation survey that is live until March 31, 2025. The data from the survey will help the City determine which Parks and Recreation projects matter most to citizens. The City is considering building a community center in South Broken Arrow and weighing the costs of adding splash features.
“The estimated cost to do the splashing features is around $19-$20 million,” Spurgeon said. “We’re looking at whether the community would support a community center at Elam Park without splash features,” Spurgeon said. “I’m sure we’ll get some good responses and give the Council good information to make that decision.”
Spurgeon says these types of surveys are essential to the bond process. Data from the surveys will be used in decision-making when it comes time for the Council to decide which projects to include in the bond package.
Another possible bond proposition is a new South Broken Arrow library in partnership with the Tulsa City-County Library. The South Broken Arrow Library is one of the most used libraries in the entire Tulsa City-County Library system.
In March, the City Council received a bond book listing all the potential projects under consideration for inclusion in the April 2026 General Obligation Bond. For the next month they will be reviewing all of the proposed projects before they take a month-long break from the bond to work on the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
Once the budget is approved, the Council will review each proposed project over three or four meetings. The user groups that have requested funding from the bond project will have an opportunity to present their need before the governing body for consideration.
“In the first meeting, I know all of you are going to want to hear from the community groups,” Spurgeon said. “I want them to hear from you and you from them. I want you to engage with them.”
The second and third meetings will explore the propositions, such as Transportation, Public Safety, City Facilities, Parks/Recreation, Stormwater, and possibly a separate package with the Tulsa City-County Library. Spurgeon hopes to determine the propositions by the third week of June.
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