At the southwest corner of Porter Avenue and Main Street, Debbie Burleson instructs signers to write their names in clear capital letters across the line. Community members ask her questions about the district and thank her for her volunteer work.
Volunteer Burleson is gathering signatures for a referendum petition to put the Rock Creek Entertainment District plan up to a public vote.
“All we’re trying to do here is let the residents of Norman decide yes or no what they want to do,” Burleson said.
In the early morning hours of September 18, the Norman City Council approved the $1 billion district project plan by a 5-4 vote. More than 70 community members voiced their support and concerns during the controversial seven-hour meeting.
Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development submitted the petition to Mayor Larry Heikkila on September 20th.
Many people at the meeting talked about the Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) included in the project plan. Community members who opposed funding school districts through TIF cited concerns about the effectiveness of TIF and its impact on public funding. TIF is a financing tool that allocates incoming taxes from a specific area to development.
The entertainment district will include an 8,000-seat arena for OU’s basketball and gymnastics teams, 500 residential units, commercial land, a hotel and parking.
ORED is a nonprofit organization created to give local residents a voice in the city’s economic development decisions, according to its website.
Anusha Fatepure
/
OU Daily
Norman residents received this mailer promoting a petition from the state of Oklahoma for responsible economic development.
ORED founding members Paul Arcaroli, Pamela McCoy Post, and Richard Sondag are among the petition sponsors.
Mr Alcaroli said the petition would allow the Norman community to have a say in the area.
“These developments, in this case economic developments, or any other developments that may impact the greater community, should be thoroughly scrutinized and thoroughly discussed by all,” Alcaroli said. said.
Burleson said she has been volunteering at the petition booth for the past three days and has seen many people “wanting to sign.” Burleson said Norman Islanders are angry that they didn’t have a chance to vote on whether such a large portion of their tax dollars will be spent.
“It’s bold for individual members of the City Council to decide that five of them can make this huge financial commitment for the greater community,” Alcaroli said.
OU President Joseph Haros Jr. told OU Daily he believes community members have the right to overturn the council’s decision, but he wants the decision to prevail.
“They’re trying to subvert it, and they can try to subvert it,” Haros said. “Obviously it’s not in the best interest of the city, but they think differently. So let’s see what impact that has.”
Harros said progress and growth are the keys to OU’s success. He said the red light district is an opportunity for growth.
“People don’t like change,” Haros says. “They want to criticize change, but that assumes that if you don’t change, you’ll be where you are tomorrow the same way you are today.”
Alcaroli, who has always encouraged community-oriented growth, said the value of the district plan is “questionable.”
“We’re not anti-growth, we’re not anti-arena, we’re not anti-change,” Alcaroli said. “These are claims that pro-business voters keep spouting, and it’s absolutely not true.”
Alcaroli said the project’s developers and proponents have “controlled the narrative” throughout the district. He said the community needs a public discussion to answer people’s questions.
“So far, this has been a completely one-way flow of information controlled and managed by Arena supporters, TIF supporters, and the people who would be most affected by this have been frozen out.” said Alcaroli. Said.
OU economics professor Cynthia Rogers, a founding member of ORED, serves as the organization’s economic consultant and collects signatures.
Rogers said the arena is not the problem, but rather its financing. The project plan proposes two TIF districts, one to collect sales and use taxes and one to collect ad valorem or property taxes.
Rogers said the city’s budget and public schools would lose out on tax revenue earmarked for the proposal. However, project developers say there will be no negative impact.
Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino said at a recent board meeting that there is no evidence that TIF will have a negative impact on public school funding.
“The benefit is that it increases the valuation of the wealth of the entire community. So our bonding power increases because our bonding power is based on the total assessed value,” Migliorino said.
The proposed TIF would account for 100% of the district’s tax revenue, according to a presentation Rogers sent to OU Daily. According to the project plan, the TIF district is expected to last up to 25 years.
Rogers said he estimates $105 million of the $600 million in funding will come from taxes collected from schools.
โI think itโs incredibly offensive to take public school funding and use it for an OU arena,โ Rogers said. “Funding is bad. And of course (developers) don’t ask the public, ‘Do you want to pay for OU’s new arena?’ Do you want to spend this much money on one thing? โ That conversation never happened. โ
Since the petition was filed, a group called Elevate Norman has been sending texts to members of the community, encouraging them not to sign the petition.
“Please support Norman’s growth and City Council approval of a new sports arena based in the Rock Creek Entertainment District,” the message read. โPlease do not sign this petition that could put this important project at risk of further delays.โ
According to Elevate Norman’s website, the project will not increase taxes or pose any risk to the city.
“Anyone who says $600 million in tax expenditures … won’t come out of taxpayers’ pockets is crazy,” Rogers said.
The OU Daily was published by Lawrence McKinney, president and CEO of the Norman Economic Development Coalition, Scott Martin, president and CEO of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, and Visit Norman Executive Director I asked Dan Shem if their organization was involved in the campaign. All three said their organizations support the red-light district but are not involved in the website.
Elevate Norman’s website does not list contact information or its founder.
“I think it’s worth noting that whoever it is, they don’t stand behind their claims,” โโRogers said.
Attorney Robert Norman, who provided legal advice to ORED and served on the previous TIF Oversight Committee, is listed as an attorney for the petition proponent. He said the text messages inspired the community to sign the petition.
โThis brought their attention to the forefront, and once people received that text, there was a huge increase in signatures,โ Norman said. โSo, if anything, it ended up working in our favor.โ
Like Rogers, Norman said he is concerned about the district’s finances. Consulting studies show new economic activity will flow into the area, but all of that tax revenue will go to the TIF, he said.
“The problem is that cities, counties and schools no longer benefit from the tax activity diverted to TIF districts,” Norman said.
Rogers said it’s possible the project will “stalle” and the arena won’t be built. She said the city is still “up to” repaying the TIF no matter what.
“There’s a risk that you can spend $600 million and not get an arena or get anything you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise,” Rogers said. “That’s a significant risk.”
Petitioners have until Oct. 18 to collect the required 6,098 signatures on the petition, said Tiffany Vruska, Norman’s chief communications officer.
Once signatures are collected, it will be submitted to City Clerk Brenda Hall for review. If it determines there are enough valid signatures, it will issue a notice, Norman said. A legal challenge to the petition can then be filed.
“It could have an impact on the election schedule,” Norman said. “We will work to quickly resolve any legal disputes and preserve the election date.”
Oklahoma’s next general election is scheduled for Feb. 11, and the petitioners hope the ballots will be counted by the public.
“We’re just going to move forward and continue to collect signatures and put this to a vote,” Norman said.
Alcaroli said about 200 signatories will help with the petition.
Russell Rice, co-founder of Norman Care-A-Bands, is helping organize the petition. He said the petition will make a difference and allow people’s voices to be heard.
“We’re voting for bonds, we’re voting for all kinds of small money, so I don’t understand why we wouldn’t vote for $600 million,” Rice said. “We would like to file this petition and find out the will of the people.”
Rice said he expects taxes to increase as the city’s general fund is depleted by TIF.
Community member Kay Warren said she signed the petition because new development is unnecessary. He said the university should continue using the Lloyd Noble Center, which is closer to campus.
“Instead of going somewhere new, you need to work with what you have,” Warren said.
Rice said the petition has been recognized and praised by various leaders in the state.
“We’ve had all kinds of people from different cities, elected officials from different cities stop by and tell us what a great job we’re doing,” Rice said. โThey were surprised to hear it and loved it.โ
Alcaroli said she has seen community members from all political walks of life support the petition.
“This is not a left-wing issue or a right-wing issue,” Alcaroli said. โThis is an economic and community issue.โ
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza. Mary Ann Livingwood Copy edited this article.
This article was originally published by OU Daily.