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« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2006, 10:45:09 am » |
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Debate continues on Expo Square annexation By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer 12/10/2006
City Councilor Roscoe Turner favors annexation, while two incoming county commissioners oppose it.
Measuring what the city would gain by annexing Expo Square is an inexact science at best.
The short answer, though, is not much. The 260-acre site would still be owned and operated by Tulsa County through its Public Facilities Authority.
The long -- and somewhat difficult to quantify -- answer is cash, in the form of the city's 3 percent sales tax.
City Councilor Roscoe Turner, who initiated discussions on the subject last month, has made it clear that he believes it's time the city received something in return for the infrastructure and other services it provides in and around Expo Square. He has also said he's concerned that Tulsa is losing tax dollars to the suburbs.
Incoming County Commissioners Fred Perry and John Smaligo announced Friday that they oppose the proposed annexation.
Of course, annexation would come with more than the potential for a sales tax windfall. It would also come with an obligation to deliver sometimes costly services at the site, such as law enforcement duties during the Tulsa State Fair.
With those conflicting considerations in mind, Mayor Kathy Taylor has asked for a complete financial analysis of the proposal before the matter is considered further.
Paula Ross, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission, said Friday that her agency would be happy to cooperate in any such analysis. But getting specific figures on sales taxes collected at Expo Square could be difficult, she said.
"It's not just going to be a number that's sitting there," she said.
The reason for that is the nature of the fairgrounds business itself, she said.
Expo Square, for example, has a few regular tenants, such as the Tulsa Drillers and Big Splash, whose tax receipts can be linked to the fairgrounds. But the great majority of vendors who do business at Expo Square are there for only a brief time, and their sales taxes are sent directly to the state, providing no easily traceable tie to the fairgrounds.
What is known about Expo Square's finances is this:
Over the past five years, it has reported total revenues ranging from $14,816,406 in fiscal year 2001-02 to $17,046,745 in 2004-05.
Expo Square President and CEO Rick Bjorklund cautioned Friday that those numbers do not reflect the total sales at the fairgrounds. The figures come primarily from admission fees and payments made by vendors for the use of Expo Square space. They do not directly reflect the sales made by those vendors, he said.
"The Expo Square budgetary figures are only a partial picture of the park's economic impact," Bjorklund said.
What he could speak to with more authority, however, was the positive impact the reconstruction and upgrades at the fairgrounds are having on business there.
Millions of dollars of 4 to Fix the County and Vision 2025 funds have been spent on a number of projects, including upgrades to the pavilion, the construction of several new buildings, and an overhaul of the livestock area.
The new look is helping attract new business, Bjorklund said.
"The pavilion is a good example of that," he said. "In November and December last year, there were only a handful of events and no concerts. This year, there have been more, and, in fact, there have been five concerts in the facility."
The question no one has a definitive answer to is whether an additional 3 percent city sales tax -- on top of the 5.517 percent in state and county taxes already being charged at Expo Square -- would have a negative impact on business at the fairgrounds.
That, in the end, could be what makes or breaks the annexation proposal.
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