City Hall Closed July 2 and 3, Some City Services Will Change for Week

City offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, July 2 - 3, 2009, for an employee holiday and the first furlough day due to budget reductions for Fiscal Year 2010, which begins July 1. Also, the City Council will not have its committee meetings on Tuesday, June 30, or its regular meeting on Thursday, July 2.

Although City offices and non-emergency facilities will be closed Thursday and Friday, July 2-3, Police, Fire, E-911 operators and other emergency responders will be on duty as usual.

Citizens can also report water and sewer emergencies to dispatchers who will be on duty throughout the holiday weekend.

To report water line breaks or other water emergencies call 596-9488.

To report sewer backups or other sewer-related problems call 669-6100.

For non-emergency problems, citizens can report problems or ask questions by submitting information to the website by following the link below.Non-Emergency Report Forms

Residential refuse collection will not occur on Saturday, July 4, to observe the Independence Day holiday. Customers whose trash is picked up on Saturdays and Wednesdays may leave twice the normal allowable amount at the curb for pickup on their next service day, which will be Wednesday, July 8. Customers whose trash is picked up once a week are not affected, because Saturday is not a usual service day.

Read the full press release...

Mayor and Unions Reach Agreement

Mayor Kathy Taylor announced today the City of Tulsa has reached agreements with the Fraternal Order of Police No. 93 and the Tulsa Firefighters Local 176 on contract amendments which will ensure the City can meet the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 budget objectives, as passed by the City Council in a 5-4 vote last week. 

"Realizing the serious financial situation the City finds itself in due to its over reliance on a volatile revenue source - sales taxes - the Fraternal Order of Police No. 93 stepped up and agreed to support, allowing each officer to take 64 hours of furlough time and return to the City the amount equal to the value of those days through a direct payroll deduction," said Taylor. 

Read the full press release

City Council Adopts City of Tulsa FY10 Budget

Tulsa City Councilors adopted the City of Tulsa's budget for Fiscal Year 2010 at their regular weekly meeting on June 18. The FY2010 budget includes funding for the workforce needed to implement capital programs, including the voter-approved Fix our Streets program, as well as public safety, general operations, and infrastructure maintenance, including streets, water and wastewater systems.

The budget allows for some flexibilty if sales taxes continue to trend downward. Taylor's management team submitted proposed departmental cuts that would only be implemented under certain economic conditions, based on rising costs and lower revenues. If the economy improves and sales taxes increase, management and the Council could restore funding to improve service levels.

City of Tulsa FY10 Budget

Touch the Life of a Child - Mentor

The value of mentoring can have far-reaching effects on the lives of our children. Since January 2007, the City of Tulsa's Mentoring to the Max efforts have reached more than 700 students in 18 community schools through out-of-school time in Tulsa Public and Union Public School districts.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma, recently named as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma 2009 Agency of the Year, is one of our dedicated Mentoring to the Max partners and is committed to bringing awareness to Tulsans about the great need for mentors and positive afterschool activities in our community.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor, call 2-1-1 today and tell them you want to be matched with a student.

Find out more about mentoring in Tulsa...

Downtown Ballpark

ONEOK Field will benefit the entire metropolitan area by creating new jobs, bringing in more visitors and visitor dollars, increasing property values resulting in increased property tax revenues and increasing sales tax revenues of which the county receives 1.417 percent. To continue to rank among the best in the nation, Tulsa and the metropolitan area must continue to invest in growing and improving the community. Economic development and the resulting new jobs, tax revenues and business opportunities benefit everyone.

Ballpark Facts, Webcam, Assessment Objection Information

Mentoring to the Max with Music

Mentoring with Music is a brand-new effort of the Mayor's Mentoring to the Max initiative, which focuses on providing real solutions to keep at-risk young people from joining gangs. The goal of the Mentoring to the Max with Music program is to recruit active and retired musicians, as well as high school and college music students and others interested in music to become music mentors for 4^th and 5^th grade students this summer at Eugene Field and Kendall-Whittier Elementary Schools.

Call the 2-1-1 Helpline today and ask to be a music mentor. Volunteering an hour or two a week, helping a child learn how to play a stringed instrument or with vocals can change a child's life forever!

Learn more...

Fixing the Streets - What Happens Now

For more than two years through surveys and town halls, Tulsans said fixing the city streets is a priority. On Nov. 4, 2008, Tulsans voted to make a sizable investment in the community to provide $451.6 million in funding through the third penny sales tax and a general obligation bond issue. The two funding packages combined represent the largest investment in infrastructure in Tulsa's history.

Now, the hard work begins. With citizen approval in place, the Public Works Department will begin to schedule and design work to be done. The schedule depends on coordination with other projects, the level of funding available as the bond issues are sold, the condition of the pavement, the geographic location and the complexity of the work to be done. All nine council districts of the city will receive street work, so projects will be spread throughout Tulsa.

Read more: Process to Fix Tulsa Streets