Daven, Tulsa (10/23/2009 12:21:43 PM)

Oh? Well judging by all the post on here, I thought Tulsa was the only city dealing with it and it was Mayor Taylors fault! lol!

billw001, Tulsa (10/23/2009 1:08:59 PM)

The mayor just can't get the numbers right... Or anything else for that matter

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 1:09:46 PM)

Surprise, surprise ! People are spending their money at Indian Casinos more and less and less is going to the cities and state of Oklahoma. Smart, real smart.

Observer3, (10/23/2009 1:13:11 PM)

A huge part of Tulsa's budget problems are Mayor Taylor's fault. And while the City's department heads are cutting services and employees, the Mayor is off in New York City at some "education conference," which seems as though she's already started her new job with the State after leaving Tulsa in a mess. Those that did not create the budget problems are the ones left to deal with them while Kathy Taylor goes on her merry way to Oklahoma City.

wk, (10/23/2009 1:17:35 PM)

I just wish the same thing happened in the federal government when tax receipts declined. Instead, they just print more/borrow more. Thank God the state, city, county can't do it to us too.

irwindale, Tulsa (10/23/2009 1:29:16 PM)

Tulsa's other problem is the Chamber of Commerce which over the years used city $ to promote and develop areas outside Tulsa proper.

...and you see what we have.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 1:29:20 PM)

By the way, do Indian Casinos pay income tax ?

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 1:37:40 PM)

Irwin, I spoke to Jim Mautino recently, he's running for Council again and if elected, he says he will reopen the investigation into the Great Plains Airlines debacle that stole thousands of dollars from the tax-payers. He says there is still $ 20K set aside and approved to investigate this but the current administration's hands are dirty and they want no part of it.

tnt091605, (10/23/2009 1:43:26 PM)

Tulsa police took furlough days already. That equates to 20 less police officers patrolling the streets. Crime continues to be out of control in Tulsa but that is not the priority. Baseball parks, the BOK center and new city halls is the priority. Now lets see what the mayor is going to do to solve the problem.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 2:00:43 PM)

She's already made her plans public - she's going to high-tail it out of town on the first train she can catch.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 2:01:26 PM)

Come on, is it that hard to figure out: Do Indian Casinos pay income tax ?

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 2:29:02 PM)

An hour and a half and no one knows the answer !

forkandknife, Tulsa (10/23/2009 2:32:52 PM)

Mayor is doing what right at the moment?

lucky girl, mine (10/23/2009 2:33:28 PM)

Good question forkandknife.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 2:40:43 PM)

IRS has determined that Indian tribes are not subject to federal income tax
because they are political agencies not included within the meaning of the
income tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, revenues
generated from gaming operations of federally recognized Indian tribes are
not taxable. From the handy-dandy google website.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 2:42:37 PM)

Boy all the advice given to those in the position of decision-making, Brad Henry, you should've listened. There are now over 400 Indian Casinos in Oklahoma alone. How much tax are they paying ? How many dollars are they taking out of the economy ?

Few Clothes, America (10/23/2009 2:46:01 PM)

I just got here and WTA, you are right. I could have answered that.

Mar, Tulsa (10/23/2009 3:05:57 PM)

To state that it is all the fault of the casinos for the fall in sales taxes is ridiculous.

The reason for the fall in sales taxes is due to many factors, one is due to a lot of people being unemployed (like me), so people are cutting back on their purchases, a lot of people are going with just the necessities. Other people are holding their breath that they don't lose their jobs, so they are cutting back ahead of time.

Certain months of the year are just slow in sales/purchases. Having worked in retail for a number of years, certain months customers didn't purchase as much, like January through March due to being after Christmas holidays and everyone spent more than they should have and also tax time is facing them in April. June and July are slow months also since August and September will be expensive months due to school supplies, school clothing, school fees, etc. Naturally November and December sales go up due to the holiday shopping.

Then the economy as a whole all across the U.S., sales taxes, etc. are down due to the poor economy, job losses, and the fear of the current administration and politicians as to what they are going to do with health care, Medicare, Social Security, etc., it's called the unknown.

The A Team, (10/23/2009 3:06:37 PM)

Oklahoma City has not had employee furlough days like Tulsa.

Taylor the Tyrant's frivolous spending is why Tulsa's budget is in worse shape than everyone else.

Kathy Taylor - Make Life Bitter
Worst Mayor Ever.

Mar, Tulsa (10/23/2009 3:10:25 PM)

I have to say that I didn't vote for Kathy Taylor. But The A Team, whatever will you do once Kathy Taylor is no longer Mayor???

Oklahoma City has not had employee furlough days....yet. I don't look for the economy, local or national to do well for some time. Town/Cities that have not done furlough days, I would guess at some point will have to do so.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 3:17:18 PM)

If I stated that the sole reason for the drop in sales tax revenue falling was the fault of the casinos I would be wrong; I did not. I'm not naive enough to think that is the only reason. It is a big reason however. They take Billions of dollars in with no mandatory reason to pay taxes on those dollars; those are dollars, many of which, would be spent in our local economy. Multiply that number times all the casinos statewide and that is a huge number and that's a whole lot of lost revenue.

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 3:20:13 PM)

Mar, Tulsa's economy as a whole is in pretty good shape compared to some cities in Indiana and Illinois; unemployment is above 20% in many of their major metropolitan areas. Illinois, that's Obama's home state. hmmmmmm Amazing !

Welcome to America !, Claremore (10/23/2009 3:21:15 PM)

My comments on this topic are simply due to the lame writer for the TW who chose to print this garbage; they don't really want answers to the problems, only to stir the pot and point fingers.

aint missbehavin, no thanks (10/23/2009 3:37:09 PM)

shows me some shouldnt be in charge,and a calculator might be in order,better yet just step down.Evidently your looks aint helpin the economy.

Zoltar, Boltar (10/23/2009 3:52:22 PM)

Speaking of our non-federal tax paying Indian Casinos, several months ago good fortune came down on me and I inherited around $20,000 from an old friend. Since this was found money I decided to try my luck at the new Creek & Cherokee gambling establishments here in town, I played long and hard at everything from the penny machines to the $10 machines and won small amounts along the way; no jackpots at all. I had the time of my life! Two weeks later I walked out of the Hard Rock at 3 AM one morning virtually penniless and the state and city of Tulsa got zero tax dollars from my good time. I realize how reckless this was but my point here is that the Tribes are sucking away our dollars that would have been spent elsewhere and taxes would have been collected. I’m back to being a stupid loser schmuck and our states tax coffers received nothing from my two week $20K fling! I’m thinking the Indians are finally getting their retribution for all the pain and suffering we white folk put them through!