MAPS 4 goes to OKC council
Mayor David Holt says the outline f or MAPS 4 he will present to the city council on Tuesday“takes MAPS and the power of MAPS out to the neighborhoods and into people's daily lives.”
Holt' s recommendation for raising an estimated $978 million over eight years concentrates on improving quality of life throughout Oklahoma City and, in significant part, for individuals living on the edges of society.
A 10- page “resolution of intent” to be considered by the city council offers hope that public investments can help lift individuals out of the traps of poverty, mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse, and can point at-risk youth away from crime by enhancing facilities for activities from theater to video games to sports.
“This is going to change neighborhoods, and it's going to change lives,” Holt said Friday.
“So many of these projects can almost bring tears to your eyes when you think about, `What is the value of a young person's life forever changed by these youth centers? What is the value of somebody's life forever changed by the homeless housing or the diversion hub?'
“This is the MAPS that the people created and it meets a broad spectrum of needs across the city,” Holt said. “It's remarkable.”
The 16 projects included in Holt's recommendation are the product of a public engagement initiative that began last year.
It culminated with 26 hours of presentations for the city council in July and early August that drew hundreds of advocates to City Hall.
As in past MAPS, sports facilities have a place, with $ 215 million allocated for a new Fairgrounds Coliseum, a stadium with a regulation professional soccer field, and renovation and expansion of Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA's Thunder.
MAPS 4 would be a distinct shift from the large downtown construction projects emblematic of MAPS 3.
With the council's consent, plans are to ask voters on Dec. 10 to extend the 1-cent Metropolitan Area Projects sales tax into the next decade, with collections to begin April 1, 2020.
Proposed are:
•$70 million for const ruction of at least four youth centers focused on
after- school and summer programming; another $10 million would be allocated for ongoing capital improvements such as technology upgrades and $30 million for an operating fund.
• $15 million for construction of a fifth senior health and wellness center, adding to the four centers included in MAPS 3. Additionally, $15 million would go toward a financial assistance fund for low-income seniors at any of the MAPS senior centers.
•$63 million for enhancing and renovating every neighborhood and community park with improvements including trees, play structures, rest rooms, shade structures and walking paths.
• $38 million for construction of a permanent home for the Palomar Family Justice Center, a facility housing agencies concerned with reducing the incidence of domestic violence.
• $22 million for construction of a “restoration center” housing mental health and addiction services, $11 million for two mental health crisis centers and $7 million for transitional housing.
•$60 million to help finance bus rapid tr ansit lines to northeast and south Oklahoma City, park-and-rides, and transit innovations such as micro transit; $10 million for 500 new bus shelters; $12 million for new buses and gear to give buses priority at traffic signals, and $5 million for planning and land acquisition.
•$87 million for sidewalks, trails, bike lane sand streetlights, guided by needs identified in the BikeWalk OKC plan.
•$50 million with the potential to leverage up to $400 million in outside funding for affordable housing, with the intent of reducing homelessness by facilitating a “housing first” policy.
• $ 38 million f or a new animal shelter.
• $63 million toward a successor to the “Big House.” The new Fair grounds Coliseum would host horse shows, state basketball and wrestling tournaments and other events, replacing the out-dated Jim Norick Arena.
•$115 million for expansion and renovation of Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA's Thunder.
• $71 million for job-creation through investments in the Innovation District being developed around and within the Oklahoma Health Center campus south of the state Capitol.
• $17 million toward development of a “diversion hub” to centralize services aimed at providing alternatives to jail for low-level criminal offenders. Advocates anticipate a private donor would offer $20 million to support operations.
• $25 million for renovation of the Freedom Center, a local civil rights landmark, and construction and operation of a museum to be named for civil rights leader Clara Luper.
• $37 million for construction for a stadium suitable for professional and college soccer, high school football and soccer, and concerts; the venue would be the home of the Energy FC professional soccer team.
• $25 million for beautification projects on major traffic corridors, including approaches to Will Rogers World Airport.
Many of the initiatives are predicated on the arrangement of partnerships with community organizations.
Agreements would establish“measurable benchmarks” to assess success in meeting goals.
MAPS' history
Voters approved MAPS 3 in December 2009. The 1-cent tax was collected for seven years and nine months, beginning April 1, 2010, and ending Dec. 31, 2017, and has brought in more than $800 million so far.
Its successor was the MAPS for streets initiative, which is expected to raise at least $240 million for street resurfacing and other improvements by the time it expires on March 31, 2020.
Tuesday, the city council is expected to set Dec .10 as the date for the MAPS 4 election. The council will adopt various housekeeping measures to meet legal requirements for scheduling and conducting the election.
The resolution of intent amounts to a promise to voters by the city council to complete MAPS 4 as outlined in the resolution, in a timely way and within budget.
Council members adhere to the promises made to voters to maintain MAPS' credibility and in hopes of maintaining voters' support for further extensions.
MAPS is a temporary sales tax first approved by voters in 1993 and renewed several times since, including for MAPS for Kids, which renovated and/or constructed public schools throughout Oklahoma City.
MAPS is unique in municipal finance in that projects are constructed on a payas-you-go basis and open debt-free.
MAPS is credited with driving the Oklahoma City renaissance and revitalization of downtown.
MAPS financed renovation of the Civic Center Music Hall and construction of the main library downtown, the Bricktown ballpark and canal, and the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
MAPS 3 financed the downtown convention center, park and streetcar; the whitewater park on the Oklahoma River; the Bennett Event Center; senior health and wellness centers; and sidewalks and trails.