OKC's might have beens...

[rezman]

Your right. I should have clarified. It was the City that promised the tax break, the Attorney General who ruled it illegal after the plant was located here, and the Oklahoma supreme court that upheld the decision. And then they were required to pay retro back 3 or 4 years to top it off. . So it’s not only a city, but also a state perception for Industries considering locating here.

[RodH]

The state legislature could have found a way to make good on the promise if they had wanted to but they chose not to do it. I think that is why GM would not even listen to OK when OK tried to offer incentives to keep the OKC plant open. The OKC plant had reportedly been ranked as one of the most productive plants they had but that was not enough for GM to even consider keeping it open. I doubt that OK will get another auto plant any time soon. The corporate world has a long memory when they feel they have been mistreated.

[Midtowner]

I doubt we will ever attract another auto assembly plant, or any other similar industry after the screwings GM took after locating here on the promise of a 20 year property tax exemption, only to have it pulled out from under them, and then receiving a tax bill in the millions of dollars afterwards.

The deal was illegal in the first place. The Oklahoma Industry Authority didn't have the authority to create special tax exemptions. GM got their bailout later when they convinced the good voters to purchase that land from GM and donate it to the federal government's tax exempt use.

OKC Schools is a pretty good might have been. It's currently a perfect illustration of the Peter Principle as applied to ridiculous bureaucracy in action. And a mere $2.1 million consulting firm is going to fix that. Turn it all around. Don't hold your breath.

[Plutonic Panda]

Apple is reportedly building a second campus and multiple data centers. It would be nice if OKC could land a data center.

[baralheia]

I honestly don't think the tax exemption affected GM's decision to close Oklahoma City Assembly that much... The tax exemption deal was found unconstitutional in 1983^[1], but the plant continued to produce vehicles for 23 years after that decision. They announced the decision to shut down the OKC plant in 2005, along with 8 others nationwide^[2], in an effort to ward off looming financial trouble when the auto market got soft in the few years leading up to the Great Recession. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if other automakers are leery of moving here because they remember what happened with the ad valorem tax exemption fiasco.

[1]: http://newsok.com/article/2025109
[2]: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/10138507/n...closing-plants

[BG918]

There was speculation that the Deep Fork would be straightened and dredged for an OKC port. The speculation of a proposal was about as far as it got.

As recently as 2013 there have been serious discussions about making the Red River navigable to Denison/Durant. The river is currently navigable for barge traffic to Shreveport/Bossier City, LA. The first project to make this a reality is a lock and dam at Fulton, Arkansas which would be over a billon dollars. I doubt this goes anywhere unless Texas has some deep pockets and DFW really wants a nearby river port.

https://www.ktbs.com/news/ark-la-tex...5a97f9498.html

[jccouger]

A skydance bridge being built as originally proposed as a suspension bridge.

What we have now is fine, but that proposal was a thing of beauty.

http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2008/09...an-bridge.html

[Plutonic Panda]

Would have been nice but the city cheaped out per usual.

[Laramie]

Dallas & Boston have cables on some of their bridges (non pedestrian). If the cables help to stabilize the bridge for support; then we should revisit that decision.

Those cables IIRC would have added $2 million to this $6 million pedestrian bridge. You would only be able to view the cables during the day. Really don't see it as an issue--we saved $2 million.