Changes
Well, today was as brutal a city council meeting as we’ve seen in quite a while. Brutal in the economic forecast for the next few years, and some dire warnings that expectations need to change. Picture the status quo as a fragile Fabergé egg sitting precariously in the driveway of your house. And picture the economy being your rambunctious 4-year-old racing toward it with a hammer in his hand.
Yeah, it’s going to get ugly. Remember those headlines about OKC being “recession proof”? Forget that – this is no ordinary recession and it’s definitely hit.
This all comes as downtown is going through yet another major transformation. More than a billion dollars is being spent on the central city the next few years. I’m seeing retail continue to blossom, and against all odds, downtown housing is still selling, though at a much slower pace than before. Downtown is hardly struggling – yet.
Ask me how these two opposing forces might collide and what it might look like in a year and I can only answer honestly – I have no clue whatsoever.
Put on your seat belt, say a prayer and God be with you.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Steve, have the numbers gotten better or worse?
During the MAPS 3 vote I found the the 5 year forecast report
General Fund Revenue and Expenditure (chart pg 61)
FY 10 thru 14 = shortfall increasing to $24.7M/year
Not sure how all of that plays into the City’s projected $100M/year for the MAPS 3 tax. Quick and dirty math indicated that even with a very low base point (current revenue which is $17M below expected revenue), factoring in the 10 yr/avg growth rate, worked out to be the projected $100M/year so I don’t know.