Tulsa’s elected officials are gearing up for a gigantic sales tax increase in November.

Powerful business people and the chamber overlords are employing the liberal daily newspaper and local TV stations to sell the public on the idea that we need to raise tens of millions of dollars in sales tax to pay for their “projects” – which includes millions for parks downtown and subsidized hotels and other privately owned entities.

Part of the media scheme is to hold “town hall meetings.” These are sold as community get-togethers where the mayor and city councilors seriously listen to the concerns of citizens before crafting any new revenue proposals.

Hogwash.

City leaders have already made up their minds about the projects they will push in this effort to grow municipal government. Virtually nothing anyone says in these “town halls” will make a significant difference in the tax hike package on the ballot in November.

Bureaucrats at City Hall – in coordination with business moguls – know what they want and they will cram it down the throats of citizens.

And TV stations will have reports on how wonderful the projects are and how they include input from the public.

The public wants to improve streets that have high traffic counts. They want fewer projects that are completed faster with less interference with traffic. They want lower water bills. They want more money spent outside Downtown and Midtown.

But most of all, they want to be heard. And not a town hall in which none of their ideas are taken seriously.