State board certifies new revenue that may never come

The Oklahoma Board of Equalization on Monday certified nearly $461 million in new revenue that may never be collected if an effort succeeds to repeal the tax bill passed in March.

The board, composed of Gov. Mary Fallin and other elected officials, met to make an official adjustment to estimated revenue for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The adjustment was needed to include the estimated revenue from increases to taxes on cigarettes, motor fuels and some oil and gas production. The taxes were increased to provide a teacher pay raise.

The state is scheduled to begin collecting the new taxes July 1.

Clouding the state's financial picture is a petition being circulated by a group called Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! that seeks a statewide ballot question on repealing the tax bill.

Two separate challenges have been lodged by education groups against the petition, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court is expected

to rule soon whether the petition can move forward.

In one challenge, the high court is weighing whether the referendum petition process — which has a lower requirement for signatures than the more frequently used initiative process — is prohibited for matters critical to the state’s “peace, health and safety.”

The second challenge, by groups that include the Oklahoma Education Association, argues that the “gist,” or summary, of the petition being circulated is misleading and incomplete and doesn’t meet the basic requirements. Also part of that challenge is the argument that the group seeking to repeal the tax hikes did not include an exact copy of the bill with the petition.

One avenue open to the court is allowing the petition process to move forward but requiring Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! to file a more clear and complete petition.

The group has until July 18 to collect more than 41,000 signatures.

The Oklahoma attorney general’s office, which submitted briefs as a neutral party in the case, urged the court to clarify when it rules on the challenges whether the referendum on the tax bill would affect the teacher pay raise bill.

According to attorneys in the case, some school districts are declining to offer teachers contracts that include the pay increase because of uncertainty over the repeal effort.

If the tax bill were ultimately repealed but the teacher raises retained, the state would experience a budget shortfall that would trigger across-theboard cuts, state officials were told Monday.

Officials said that Oklahoma’s Rainy Day Fund should receive a deposit in August of about $303 million. More than a third of that total, $113.6 million theoretically could be used in an emergency to fill a budget gap if the court’s decision blocks new revenue, said Shelley Paulk, deputy budget director of revenue.