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Public commenters urge scrutiny of TIF plans, warn of school funding impacts
Summary
Two public commenters told the Norman board the city’s tax-increment financing plans could divert school property tax revenue and urged the board to seek a robust fiscal analysis before approving related actions.
During the public comment period, Cynthia Rogers and Steven Ellis urged the Norman Public School Board to press for a more detailed analysis of proposed tax-increment financing (TIF) districts and warned of consequences for the district budget.
Cynthia Rogers said the document provided to the statutory review committee lacked the information required by statute about the impact of TIFs on school funding and reflected a plan different from the one approved by the city council. She said the available material “didn't have real information or the required by statute the information about the impact on the school budget,” and added, “ad valorem TIF takes school funding and uses it for not schools, and that's a concern for, all of us in the room.”
Steven Ellis told the board he believed it was premature to extend the superintendent's contract given unresolved concerns about the TIF proposals. "I think it's too early for you guys to be extending the superintendent for 3 years when he's got 2 years on his current contract," Ellis said. He also told the board that the superintendent had attended the TIF Oversight Committee "without direction from the board," and that the district should have a "robust discussion" about the likely local fiscal impacts before renewing leadership agreements.
Both commenters called for the board to pursue a comprehensive fiscal analysis of TIF impacts on school ad valorem revenue as city TIF boundaries and proposals move forward. The board did not act on these requests during the meeting.
