Councilors adopt budget 'driven by strategic initiatives'

Jun. 19—City councilors approved a budget "driven by strategic initiatives" that include street and infrastructure upgrades and polishing Muskogee's public image.

The fiscal year 2022 budget also invests in economic development, housing and tourism. Councilors identified those five initiatives during a strategic planning retreat this past September.

City Manager Mike Miller said the budget is designed to transform "strategic initiatives into an action plan." Highlights include $10 million in the general fund for street maintenance and improvements and $2.6 million for ongoing improvements to water and sewer infrastructure.

Miller said this will be the second consecutive year city councilors approved a $10 million streets budget. That amount will be made possible by sales tax approved by voters as part of a capital improvements package and a matching grant from the City of Muskogee Foundation.

The overall budget totals more than $80.03 million — an increase of 20.56%, or $13.56 million, from the $66.38 million proposed as the pandemic began to set in a year ago. The general fund totaling $36.84 million — the largest of the eight funds in the overall budget — also includes funds that can be used to match grants that might be secured.

Miller said more than 71% of the general fund will go toward wages, salaries and benefits earned by the city's 432 budgeted employees. He said that is roughly the same number of employees budgeted for the previous year.

"A lot of the time the services we provide is a human being: it's a firefighter, it's a police officer," Miller said. "When we are spending money on our employees, we are spending money directly for services to our citizens."

The general fund, Miller said, includes $26.31 million for wages, salaries and benefits. He said there is room for employee raises, an issue being negotiated through collective bargaining with police, firefighters and non-uniform employees.

Miller said a lot of time was put into assembling the budget during the past three months or more. He said the budget documents approved this week were "the culmination of all that work."

Miller said planning and preparation put the city in a good position as it "simultaneously recovers from three nationally declared disasters" and moves toward the future. He credited councilors for sound fiscal policies that provided emergency reserves when they were needed.

Miller said he expects sales tax revenue during the coming year will remain flat following 12 months of "unusually high" deposits fueled by federal spending. Sales tax revenue is the city's "largest single revenue source" available for the general fund.