Lawton City Council could start process to call fall ad valorem election

The possibility of a Fall election asking voters to look at a longer road improvement funding program will top the agenda when the City Council meets today.

The proposal from Mayor Stan Booker ties into a discussion the council had last month concerning bridges over Wolf Creek on South 11th Street between Pecan Road and Interstate 44, and on Cache Road east of Northwest 47th Street. City staff has said the bridges are priorities: while bridges spanning eastbound and westbound Cache Road can be repaired, those on South 11th Street are in such poor condition, they must be replaced. The weight limits on both sets of bridges have been downgraded to a degree that fire trucks can’t use the Cache Road bridges, while sanitation trucks must use alternate routes to get to the city landfill.

Booker has said the solution to those bridges, as well as addressing multiple street repair/replacement projects, is asking voters to extend the city’s Ad Valorem Road Improvements Program. That program was passed by voters in 2017 and is expected to generate $50.3 million for road work over its 10-year life.

While outlining plans for next year’s budget, city staff recommended using the 2019 Capital Improvements Program to cover the $1.3 million cost for Cache Road repairs and the $5.43 million cost for South 11th Street replacement. Booker and council members said no, saying funding the bridges would mean not doing road work promised to voters.

Council members also have begun discussions of new road improvement priorities, after completion of a pavement analysis expected to help assign priorities for arterial and residential street work. The city could address more street projects by extending the ad valorem program, Booker said.

Today’s discussion is expected to center on projects, as well as setting a Sept. 12 election to ask voters to lengthen the existing ad valorem program. The city already has a council election set Sept. 12 and could add the ad valorem election, but only if they file the ballot proposition by July 13.

Public hearing set on budget

Today’s agenda also will give residents a chance to comment on the budget that will guide expenditures and project revenues for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Council members have been meeting in special sessions for weeks to consider the details of that budget, which must be put into place seven days before the new year begins. Today’s agenda allows the council to vote on the budget.

A second agenda item also ties into the budget: a new employee pay plan that will ensure all general employees receive a pay raise of at least 5 percent. The plan addresses concerns council members and city department heads have about recruiting new employees while retaining the ones they have. It sets the minimum general employee pay at $15 per hour, with other salaries adjusted accordingly.

Council members looked at the issue at a special meeting last week, but delayed action because they and Booker wanted the ability to amend provisions. Booker challenged the proposal to add a fifth step to the executive-level pay plan, saying only one employee qualifies for the step that set annual pay between $123,494 to $210,275.