The Norman Transcript

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October 11, 2008

Mayor: City not excited about county's request for sales tax

By Andy Rieger

The decision by Cleveland County's Board of Commissioners to try and fund a new jail through a sales tax concerns Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal.

"Obviously, the city is not excited about the county encroaching on the sales tax," the mayor told members of the Norman Business Association Friday.

Commissioners have called a Dec. 9 election on the quarter cent proposal to fund the $34.5 million facility. They may be competing against the city which will likely bring a second attempt at funding for libraries some time next year.

The mayor discussed the library drive and a number of other issues during the group's regular meeting. She said she was excited about the accomplishments during the past year.

"This has been a good year in the midst of gloom and doom," she said, adding she does not envision bringing a second library vote to the public this year.

“We want to give this economy time to turn around," she said.

She said the city's finances - not counting its investment portfolio - are in good shape. Sales taxes were up 8.5 percent last month and finished the year up an average of 6.7 percent.

"We're going to be crossing our fingers and waiting to see what happens during the holiday season."

Commercial building permits, at historic levels for the past two years because of hospital and University North Park projects, are back to normal levels, she said.

Rosental identified key issues on the table including:

• The stormwater master plan which could cost $80 million to $90 million to implement. "This is certainly something that's not going to be free," she said.

• Parks master plan. "We're going to be evaluating from top to bottom our parks facilities," she said.

• Water quality and quantity.

• Public transportation including bus service to the business park and regional solutions for the area.

• Curbside recycling's implementation. "We are running at numbers unmatched in the metro area and above the national average," she said. Apartments may be included in the future.

• Tree planting and litter awareness.

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