Source: City of Broken Arrow
The Broken Arrow City Council met recently to have preliminary discussions about the proposed budget for 2024-25
Broken Arrow City Manager Michael Spurgeon termed the city’s fiscal health as “very stable” as the City Council and city leadership met recently for the annual workshop on the budget and financial plan.
The proposed fiscal year 2025 budget totals more than $490 million. This includes $175 million for operational costs, $275 million for capital outlay and $39 million for debt service.
The budget workshop is the first opportunity for the City Council and the public to view the proposed FY-2025 budget and ask questions regarding expenditures and forthcoming plans and projects.
View specifics of the preliminary FY 2025 Budget and the 2026 Financial Plan here.
The municipal budget is a blueprint for how the City provides services for the upcoming fiscal year —July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. It matches the available resources with the community’s needs, outlines the city’s priorities, and provides a workable plan.
“This budget is full of projects that have been approved by the voters in the General Obligation Bond Package or what we’re proposing to borrow from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to continue to maintain and upgrade our water and sewer systems,” Spurgeon said.
A final version of the FY25 budget will be submitted to the City Council on June 3 and discussed in a public hearing during the City Council’s regular meeting.
“I want to assure voters that we’ve estimated all our revenues, and we have a solid fund balance to ensure that should there be something unforeseen that can happen, we can weather any downturn,” Spurgeon said.
Adoption of the FY25 budget is expected to take place on June 17. By state law, the budget must be approved and in place by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
Broken Arrow’s fiscal stability is the result of balancing the city’s operational needs while maintaining a conservative approach to the use of available resources, Spurgeon said.
“We will end fiscal year 2024 strong with our estimated net income for at just over $4 million in the general fund,” Spurgeon said. “Revenues through April 2024 are coming in above what was originally projected.”
There are still challenges for the coming year, he noted, budgetary including inflation, supply chain availability and the state’s over-dependence on sales tax.
Oklahoma is one of the last states in the nation to rely on sales tax to fund the city government’s general funds.
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