Oklahoma City Council Votes On Million Dollar Road Improvements

Oklahoma City's city revenue is down for the first in several years.

Despite the shortfall, City Council members found enough money in its reserve fund to pay for an extra $8 million for road improvement projects.

This is the third year in a row, council members will prioritize how $1 million will be spend in each of the city’s eight wards.

But this year, city revenue is down 1.9 percent, which comes out to nearly $20 million dollars less in the budget compared to last year.

“The typical conservative move at this point would be to keep that money in our reserves and not draw down your reserves at a time when sales tax is decreasing,” said Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid, who opposed the move.

City leaders also dipped into the reserve funds to help balance the budget. City departments have made cuts and stopped hiring.

Oklahoma City Budget Director Doug Dowler said even after the $8 million, and the money taken to balance the budget, there is a still an adequate amount of money in reserves.

City leaders say when they survey residents on city improvement they’d like to see, road improvements is always at the top of the list.