MAPS 3 Press Conference 11 a.m. Today at City Hall
Mayor Mick Cornett apparently has decided to unveil what he hopes will be on the MAPS 3 ballot at 11 a.m. today at City Hall, 200 N Walker.
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Brian,
Have you looked ate the PDF on the front page of newsok? It goes into a little bit more detail.
I read the PDF. And now I can say the “package” is opened.
About the Fairgrounds improvements, Why can’t those improvements, including the idea of a very large exibit center, be funded by the OKC Hotel tax?
$280 million for a Convention Center? I was expecting closer to $350 million. And if it is approved, then what will/should happen to the Cox Center when the new one is completed? Could the Cox become the site for the intermodal transit hub?
John, I asked the mayor this and he said it’s because the State Fair board issued bonds against their tax revenue for the next dozen years or so and they don’t want to wait that long to proceed with exhibit hall construction. That said, there will be a wait of several years before enough MAPS money is collected for the exhibit hall can be built with the MAPS tax. This is an issue for all you to discuss.
“That said, there will be a wait of several years before enough MAPS money is collected for the exhibit hall can be built with the MAPS tax.”
Ok, I’ll bite. That isn’t a problem since they don’t have to wait for the tax revenue to come in. As with the previous MAPS projects and the current Ford Center tax, they were NOT built entirely pay-as-you-go or debt free as claimed. The City look out lines of credit (not long term debt, but still debt). The City has already incurred $26M in bond debt for MAPS 3 (and spent close to $6M so far) for a project that has NOT been approved by voters yet.
I was not able to watch at 11:00. I hope you have a blog entry or story posted soon. The little blurb at okc.gov/maps3 gives very little information.