EDMOND — Edmond on the GO, the Nov. 5 city bond election to generate $231 million for public works — and raise property taxes — is a big no for some who are accusing city leaders of skirting the law, if not violating it.
At stake for proponents are a long list of street repairs, park improvements and a new fire station. At stake for opponents is the 14.83% hike in taxes, which will come if voters approve one, two or all of three questions on the ballot by more than 50%.
Property taxes for the median assessed home value in Edmond, now $307,000, would increase by about $1.34 per day, $40 per month or $450 per year, the city says.
Matt Burns is among residents raising questions “around the potential misuse of public resources and questionable ethical practices that may violate both the letter and spirit of Oklahoma state law,” as he put it in writing to the Oklahoma attorney general’s office.
He asked for an investigation and that the results be sent to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. The AG’s office had no comment.
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Citizen task force on Edmond city bond issue alleged to have conflicts of interest
Burns did not single out any individuals, but he criticized the makeup of the city’s General Obligation Bond Advisory Task Force, 25 people, many of them home builders or otherwise involved with land development, appointed by the city council in May. The task force developed the project list.
Burns, and others circulating his letter on social media, call that a conflict of interest.
“These affiliations raise ethical concerns, as many of these individuals stand to benefit from the bond’s approval, creating, at minimum, questionable appearances,” according to Burns, who lives on Bison Drive in the Iron Horse neighborhood northwest of Coltrane and Coffee Creek roads.
Todd McKinnis, an attorney with Edmond’s Rubenstein & Pitts law firm and a member of the now-disbanded task force, tackled allegations of conflicts of interest at a recent Edmond Economic Development Authority board meeting.
“All the knuckleheads on Nextdoor and all this other stuff about it being a boondoggle for developers or whoever, there’s nothing in this project, on this whole list, that really accelerates development anywhere in our community,” McKinnis said at the Oct. 15 EEDA meeting.
He said task force members thought, “‘Hey, let’s get this done if we can, and then the next step is getting ahead. We’re behind.’ No doubt about it, we’re behind. … And we have to make some decisions to drive our community forward.”
McKinnis made no bones about his position and others’.
“What we’re asking you to do is vote ‘yes,’ and here’s what we’re really asking: We don’t know the people you know. We don’t know your email list. We don’t know who you go to church with, or who you’re in a book club with. But we’re asking you to tell them to go vote ‘yes,'” he told the EEDA board.
More: Edmond bond issue for streets, parks, fire will raise taxes one way or another if OK’d
Some see Edmond city officials as promoting approval of bond issue, not just the election
Burns and others also say the city has gone beyond informing and educating the public about the election, and is promoting it, which he says “may violate state laws.”
The city is promoting the election with street signs, public meetings, mailings, and online with Edmond on the GO, and spent $70,000 for a PR firm to assist. Whether the city is promoting a “yes” vote seems open to interpretation.
Are Edmond officials informing and educating, or promoting? It’s fuzzy, lawyers group says
It is a gray area, according to the Oklahoma Association of Municipal Attorneys, which points to a Tulsa case in an online article that details what happened when a Tulsa city bond issue election was challenged as illegal for the same reasons.
An action filed against the city of Tulsa said the city “had expended public money in an effort to promote passage of the tax and bond issues, had made misrepresentations to the public, and had engaged in improper procedures in handling the resolution, ordinance and ballot.”
In that case, the trial court found that Tulsa city officials “did not act improperly,” and determined there was insufficient evidence of fraud or coercion on the part of elected officials or employees during the campaign.
“The court did find that city officials had acted improperly in allowing or authorizing the expenditure of public funds in support of the bond proposal,” but it was not enough to justify stopping the issuance and sales of bonds, the association said in the article.
Edmond mayor: City aims to help voters ‘make an informed decision on election day’
In response to Burns’ letter, sent electronically to the AG’s office on Sunday, the city provided a statement. It does not directly address Burns’ concerns about conflicts of interest and the makeup of the task force, which disbanded after it presented its recommendations to the City Council in August. Nor does it address his claims that the city is promoting the bond issue, not just the election.
“While common in most other Oklahoma cities, GO Bonds are new to many Edmond residents. The city takes seriously its responsibility to inform and educate residents about the projects, how they were selected and how they would be funded,” the city said. “We have taken steps to ensure accurate information is provided in multiple ways, both online and in person, so that residents have every opportunity to learn about the proposals that will be on their ballot Nov. 5.”
Mayor Darrell A. Davis said in a separate statement:
“There is an expectation for a unique quality of life in Edmond. Residents have told us time and again that these projects and ones like them are important to meet our community’s high standards. The final decision rests in their hands, and our job is to make sure they have everything they need to make an informed decision on election day.”
More: The bond election on the Edmond ballot is not actually for schools. Here’s where the money would go
Why the Edmond Board of Realtors opposes the ‘Edmond on the GO’ bond issue
The Edmond Board of Realtors pointed to concerns about housing affordability in explaining its opposition of the city bond.
“Each of the 1,300-plus members of the Edmond Board of Realtors love the city of Edmond,” the board said in a statement. “We have grown our careers as Realtors and industry partners from the thriving real estate industry in Edmond and the surrounding areas. … We see the value and need in the projects the city has set forth, but do not believe that the best avenue for funding those projects is through an increase in Edmond citizens’ property taxes.
“Housing affordability and attainability are big hurdles for consumers in the current climate. With higher interest rates, low inventory, increasing homeowner insurance expenses and high property values, which increase taxes, the GO bond of 15 mill (14.3% property tax increase) would be another blow to current and future property owners.”
Staff Writer Richard Mize covers Oklahoma County government and the city of Edmond. He previously covered housing, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com, starting in 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com.You can support Richard’s work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.