Midwest City mayor responds

The tax increase approved was by the voters of Midwest City. The mayor, City Council, nor the city manager have that authority. This plant had already been delayed by previous administrations.

We are very fortunate to have the employees that operate our wastewater treatment facility. They have worked diligently to keep this city in compliance, most importantly, its operations. By doing just that, we have not wasted taxpayer money on citations of violations being issued to the city of Midwest City.

The council did not want to burden our residents with higher utility rates.

Without this increase of sales tax, the residents would have felt an increase of rates by three to four times the amount presently adopted.

This was the fairest way to pay for our infrastructure. People who live outside our city pay up to 40 percent of sales tax revenue collected. When they visit our city, they use the infrastructure just as we do. They expect the same type service that you and I expect.

This increase still keeps us lower than Oklahoma City sales tax. This will also sunset in 12 years, which will return our sales tax base to 7.94 percent.

You may not be happy with the Environment Protection Agency or our federal debt, but we still have to work in the guidelines that require us to do these things. I don’t care for unfunded mandates any more than you.

We cannot afford to allow our city to fall to a level that will cost us much more in the long run. It is less expensive to do it now than it will be in another year; it would have been less expensive if it had been done earlier.

The great thing is the people had the option to vote on this and the City Council didn’t have to force higher rates on our residents and businesses.

While I understand and appreciate your thoughts on how hard times are, we must take care of our infrastructure when it is necessary.

It is a responsibility to the citizens to maintain our city at the highest level possible, while being prudent with their tax dollars. It is necessary for us to do this project to keep our city moving forward.

Your mayor and council will continue to work toward keeping your trust. I’m grateful for the nearly 80 percent vote to support this project. Thank you, Midwest City residents!

Jack Fry is the mayor of Midwest City.