Norman group pushes petition for citywide vote on TIF

BEN FENWICK

TRANSCRIPT EDITOR

A group pushing for a public vote on the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district is offering up a petition to see what city residents want instead of a close decision by a split Norman City Council.

Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development has set up locations across Norman to collect signatures to bring the $600 million TIF to a citywide vote of residents.

The city council approved the Rock Creek Entertainment District Project Plan in a split 5-4 vote last week, following an hours-long session that lasted until early morning. The vote created a district for residential, retail, office, commercial, arena, parking garage, and hotel, along with a festival plaza and related public improvements, anchored by an arena for OU.

The district is to be funded by collecting 100% of the ad valorem taxes generated by the project, starting December 31, 2026, and continuing for 25 years, according to the city.

Standing near a pop-up tent on Main Street and Porter in central Norman, the tables were set with copies of the petition. Organizer Russell Rice said the TIF is a blind bargain foisted onto the city by a divided city council.

“The TIF? It’s the largest ever, a 100% TIF. We’ve never seen that anywhere else,” said Rice. “Traditionally, stadiums aren’t even profitable after ten years. OU will be done with the

See PETITION on A2

Petition Drive: Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development has set up locations across Norman to collect signatures to bring the $600 million TIF to a citywide vote of residents.

Photo by Norman Transcript

CONTINUED FROM A1

arena in ten years and we will have an arena that isn’t profitable. But we’ll still be paying for it for 25 years.”

For Rice, an elephant in the room is police and fire coverage for the district.

“What do communities do when the general fund gets too low to pay for police and fire? They raise taxes,” he said. “They may not want to raise taxes now, but when that portion of the general fund disappears, how will we make that up?”

The short, ten-page presentation posted by the city on its website explains the TIF finances, the area where the TIF will be located, and details of the arena — but nothing about the police and fire services.

“I have not seen a single line item for police and fire,” Rice said. “Not only are we going to have this arena with an entertainment district that will cannibalize the rest of our town, we will have what little money that is left over to build new police and fire infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, as the TIF was being discussed, Ward 2 City Councilmember Matthew Peacock stopped by and walked over to the table where the petitions lay.

“I’m doing this in good faith,” he told Rice, and signed the petition as Rice took a picture of him.

Peacock told the Transcript that even though he voted for passage of the TIF while sitting on city council, he now supports the right for the public to vote on it.

“This is the way the state process is supposed to play out, and we at the council did what we had to get it to this part of the process,” he said. “I wanted to show my support for this public process.”

The organizers hope to garner 6,600 valid signatures on the drive, to bring the issue to a vote in February 2025.