By Rep. Jason Murphey

One of the bills that was lost late in the session this year was property tax reform in the form of SJR-5. This was probably the single most disappointing occurrence of the session.

Last April, chances are that you received your property tax assessment. I would also guess that regardless of whether or not your property appreciated in value, your bill reflects a 5% increase in your payable assessment over last year. This is the time of year when my office receives calls or e-mails from citizens experiencing the challenge of coming up with a larger-than-ever property tax payment. Second only to road improvements, the issue of higher property taxes is of major concern to my constituents.

SJR-5 would have allowed the people to vote on decreasing the 5% assessment increase cap to 3%.

I believe property tax to be the most unfair form of taxation. This tax actually punishes a person for land ownership and taxes them year after year for the same property. Read more…

Related:

Asking for Constituent Input for Next Year’s Agenda

Hello again, everybody! As the dust continues to settle after the 2009 session of the Oklahoma Legislature, political observers are looking at how this year was different.

A new majority party took control and the big question was how members would respond to their new roles. What should never change are the fundamental principles that guide individual senators.

Throughout the session, I was far less concerned with partisan issues than I was with getting things done for my district and our state. That approach, and the fierceness with which I tackle specific issues, will never change so long as I have the opportunity to serve as your senator.

While there still are a few bills awaiting the governor’s signature, nine of the bills I sponsored in the Senate have become law. While that is a relatively large number to make it through the process, a number of bills I sponsored fell by the wayside – most often in the House of Representatives – due to partisan politics. Read more…

We received this last Friday morning. A reader speculates on why Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor decided against running for re-election.

“60% approval and she’s stepping down?  Does her husband no longer need special favors?  (he runs Alamo/Thrifty rental cars who got a lot of money to open call center in Tulsa). Is it because of the brewing payoff scandal? Or does she smell blood in the water and is going to put together a campaign to run against Sullivan?”   

Corporate Commission “Ghost Commissioner” Jeff Cloud on an Aspen Institute junket in Egypt.

Ghost commissioner Jeff Cloud was in Norman last week discussing energy issues. Here’s a synopsis from The Red Dirt Report:

“Obama’s energy plans, Cloud said, “would devastate the energy industry,” particularly the oil and natural gas industry that is such an important part of Oklahoma’s economy.

“I think what we have to brace for – Obama’s tax proposals on the energy industry will be catastrophic for our state,” Cloud said.

Marginal wells, he noted, would most likely be shut off, leading to smaller oil producers shutting down and more jobs lost in a sagging economy.

Additionally, Cloud said, these crippling policies would ultimately lead the United States to rely more on foreign oil, including oil from the volatile Middle East.

“We need to get off Middle Eastern oil,” Cloud said, adding that importation of Canadian oil was acceptable and even good for Oklahoma.” Read more…

Hmmm. Chesapeake Energy must have substantial interests in Canada!

Here’s an inaugural article from Oklahomans for Responsible Government’s new newsletter called The Rotunda:

“In a year when Oklahoma dealt with a $900-million shortfall in the state budget, why is the state spending nearly seven-million dollars to help balance the budgets of other states?

Oklahomans for Responsible Government recently searched through the vendors listed on the state’s Open Books database and found 140 payments by various departments of Oklahoma government to agencies or universities in 34 other states. These payments total $6,742,125!

Texas is the biggest recipient of Oklahoma money, getting $1,059,000 while Pennsylvania ($925,025), Kansas ($716,537) and Arkansas ($706,275) also get a big chunk. The largest single remittance is $715,000 that the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center pays to the University of Pittsburgh.

This shows a significant problem in the way the state handles its budget. A few elected officials get in a room and come up with a plan, an announcement is made to the masses and lawmakers are then asked to approve the spending. There is nothing written about how it will be spent or whether the money will stay in state or be sent across the Red River.”