I've been concerned with the number of posts from people here at OKCTalk acting like keeping our 8.38% tax rate is no big deal. It's a VERY big deal. Any listings for "Great Cities For Business," "Great Places To Live," business considerations for relocation, etc. take the city sales tax into consideration. In fact, right now, Oklahoma City and Tulsa have some of the highest sales tax rates for major cities in the United States. Many suburban areas have higher rates (minimally) across the country than their big-city counterparts, so you must compare the rates in the major cities.

St. Louis just a couple of weeks ago approved a controversial sales tax hike from 7.74% - 8.24%. That's still below our sales tax rate.
(By the way, as an aside, St. Louis doesn't charge for garbage pickup.)

The highest sales tax rates in the nation are Memphis, Chicago and Baton Rouge at just over 9.00%.

Wichita is at 6.70%.

Texas is capped at a maximum statewide of 8.25% (also with no state income tax!).

Boston has one of the lowest at 5.00%.

A few random cities:

Little Rock 7.50%

Albuquerque 6.70%

Denver 7.72%

Miami 7.00%

Kansas City 7.5%

Washington D.C. 5.75%

Jacksonville 7.00%

Los Angeles 8.25% (The "Subway to the Sea" tax proposal of a half penny increase is meeting huge opposition.)

Salt Lake City 6.60%

San Diego 7.75%

Portland, OR - 0.00% (That's right - no sales tax at all in the state of Oregon and not allowed by any cities or towns.)

Some of the highest in the United States:

Memphis 9.25%

Chicago 9.00%

Baton Rouge 9.00%

Seattle 8.60%

San Francisco 8.5%

Tulsa 8.5%

Oklahoma City 8.38%

New York City 8.38%

As for groceries, none of the above cities charge full sales tax on groceries except:

Oklahoma City

Tulsa

Reduced tax rate on groceries: Little Rock, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago

All other cities above and all cities in 37 states do not tax groceries at all.

So, while I am voting "Yes" and hope others do as well, this tax that was promised to be temporary back in 1993 (some were skeptical and said, "Sure it will be" -- and were vilified) has continued for almost fifteen years. This regressive tax on top of our being a state with an income tax must stop somewhere. Being known as a city/state with high tax rates is not good for business. The state helps in bringing new business, despite the taxes, with many incentives and credits.

As we vote "Yes" - let's remember the temporary promise of this tax - just like there was a promise in 1993. This time, let's hold them to it and not continue to shell out for further demands from the basketball team (if they come) or any other private entities that want to feed at the public trough through regressive sales taxes. Not a single NBA city has ever used a sales tax in their public contribution. Never. Until now.

Let's also do our part to ensure that if and when the Sonics come to Oklahoma City that we, as good citizens, are not taken advantage of with lease agreements that are farcical. We also must remember that further demands down the road must be met with an understanding that helping make the city NBA-ready does not include continued public funding to capitalize the privately-owned Sonics.

With those thoughts - I close with a plea for a "Yes" vote March 4 for the temporary sales tax to continue - for up to 15 months. As promised.