Published: May 09, 2008 11:39 am            

Deer Creek needs county bond

EDMOND — For 9 cents a month on an average $100,000 home value, Edmond and Oklahoma County residents can help their neighbors to the north find a solution to constant flooding and property damage.

Since the average home value in Edmond is at more than $200,000, many of our residents will pay 18 cents a month for a proposed water detention solution by Oklahoma County in the Deer Creek area. That’s still a cheap price to pay for a problem that continually costs county taxpayers and Deer Creek residents money every time it rains.

Residents saw the need this week after Wednesday’s torrential rain made roads in northwest Edmond impassable again.

District 3 County Commissioner Ray Vaughn has said the county will seek proposals from contractors to build a series of detention and retention ponds northwest of Edmond to help corral the flood water that often rises out of the Canadian River.

The best news about this item on Tuesday’s county bond ballot is we’re not bearing the burden alone. The federal government has promised a 3-1 matching cost-sharing deal for this project and a similar one in Oklahoma County at Air Depot and 23rd Street. So for a $6 million cost to Oklahoma County taxpayers, the true investment will be $24 million in resolving the flooding and the damage it brings.

This issue is item No. 5 on Tuesday’s countywide ballot and it’s labeled Natural Hazard Mitigation and Flood Relief.

Previously, this newspaper questioned why the county could not find existing dollars to pay for some of its five ballot issues.

Vaughn’s answer is this: 70 percent of the county’s ad valorem tax goes to education and only 10 percent of every $1 of ad valorem actually funds the functions of county government. In addition, the county jail soaks up almost half of the county’s general fund monies. That’s a cost that cannot be avoided.

Vaughn also notes that Oklahoma County is one of only six counties in the state that does not have a sales tax to help support either its jail or other county functions.

These are all good reasons that add up to an existing need for more funding in order to accomplish this much-needed solution.



EDITOR’S NOTE: See Sunday’s edition for the Editorial Board’s stance on the $55 million Tinker Air Force Base proposition on Tuesday’s county ballot.

        

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