2026 Tulsa Public Schools School Bond Election
Vote NO
This school bond says your taxes will be at the same rate. However in 2021 this rate was supposed to raise $414 million and now this same rate will raise $609 million for a bond issue that lasts the same amount of time – 5 years.. It sure sounds like we will be paying more money. It seems disingenuous or deceptive to make that claim although technically true.
It also seems likely that if that same rate will now produce more money, it also produced more than $414 million over the past five years. School Boards are not required to report any overages or what they have done with the overage money in the school bond transparency report. What did TPS do with that money? They certainly did not mention it when trying to secure the new bond.
The Audit by the State showed multiple areas of problems from fraud to not using best standards in Tulsa Public Schools accounting. Although we have been told many changes have been made, it seems counterintuitive to trust them with over $609 million more dollars.
TPS District 4 School Board
The Tulsa Beacon endorses E’lena Ashley
She was one of the people that petitioned Governor Kevin Stitt to audit Tulsa Public Schools. She has been an outspoken voice of reason on the Board despite enduring harsh criticism.
TPS District 7 School Board
The Tulsa Beacon recommends Michael Phillips
A retired school teacher and after attending four years of board meetings, he feels that the School Board is just a rubber stamp for the Administration and wishes to more closely look at things from the taxpayer point of view, to have the board be more transparent and have more public discussion of issues and finances.
2026 Broken Arrow Bond Issue and Sales Tax Hike
The Bond Issue
The biggest issue with the bond projects are the bonds themselves. Why not just pay as you go and collect the property tax, why should taxpayers have to pay for the bonding process and interest paid on them? Why do taxpayers have to pay more in property taxes than they have to?
Are the seven propositions worth keeping the property taxes high? They look reasonable, but are they worth the extra tax on your property to accomplish their $468 million in projects?
The Sales tax “temporary” increase – NO
The problem with a “temporary” tax increase is that it becomes virtually permanent. As it has been seen in Tulsa, for the past 25 years, as soon as it has been voted in the first time, all that has to be said is “it will only replace the ending tax and voting for it you will not see an increase” and it will pass.
This measure will also put the sales tax in Broken Arrow in Tulsa County over 10.1 percent. which ties the highest rate in Tulsa County in Bixby.