Last Updated on September 20, 2023, 7:30 PM | Published: September 20, 2023
BETHANY, Okla. — Here are the key takeaways from the Bethany September 2 City Council meeting:
- The City financial report shows good news as revenues are up and expenditures are down
- Crews begin replacing “dead” water meters in some parts of the city, raising water costs for some who benefited from broken meters
- The mayor and council award Girl Scout Troop 269 with a Mayoral Certificate of Achievement for their animal welfare work
Bethany Financial Report
The Bethany Financial report results are in, and Citizens should know that the city has made its best effort to raise revenue and decrease expenditures.
Finance Director Michael Vaughn delivered the good news Monday evening as the report from the first two months of the year to the end of August shows that the city is keeping to its set budget.
“At this point in time, we should be at between 16-17% income and expense… Our overall total revenues are at 18.57%.”
The big taxes the city creates revenue from have all been above or around the budgeted amount, which is good for city development.
As for expenses, the city sat at a total of 14.48% for the reported cycle, several points under what was budgeted for.
The Finance Director said, “All departments are under budget except for streets,” reflecting the emergency expenditures tied to the 23rd Street water main blowout.
Use tax “bright spot”
The big takeaway was that Bethany’s use tax keeps trending up every year.
Use tax deposits “continue to be a bright spot” for Bethany’s finances, and the council agrees.
Ward 2 Council Member Steve Palmer talked a bit about the use tax at the end of the meeting.
He explains that he orders grocery delivery to get goods from other municipalities but to still feed into Bethany’s use tax for the benefit of the city.
“We don’t have a big box store like Warr Acres or Oklahoma City, but now we can get some of those sales tax dollars.”
Bethany’s 4% Use tax applies to most things that may be bought in other municipalities but are used, stored, or otherwise consumed within Bethany.
Water meter improvements
Crews are beginning to replace dead water meters with new ultrasonic meters, and the City Manager says that some residents may see a spike in their water bills.
“If you have enjoyed a zero reading on your water bill, you may see an increase in your water consumption,” said City Manager Elizabeth Gray.
Many meters around the city have been reading inaccurately, while others fail to read any consumption at all.
Aside from putting those encouraging revenue reports into perspective (The public works authority was actually slightly ahead of last year’s revenues), the city hopes that the new accurate and low-maintenance meters can keep citizens well-serviced.
Bethany’s next city council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 3rd, at 6:30 PM.
Girl Scout Troop 269
Bethany’s own Girl Scout Troop 269 was awarded the Mayoral Certificate of Achievement on Monday, with Mayor Lloyd personally commending their community service projects around the city.
The troop worked with Animal Shelters, Humane Societies, and wildlife rehabilitation facilities to create hundreds of items for the animal’s comfort.
The scouts also earned the Silver Award from the Girl Scout organization for spending at least 70 hours each on the various welfare projects.
Damian Powell is our government reporter for the smaller municipalities in the OKC metro such as Moore, Norman, Bethany, and Warr Acres. Damian is studying Political Science at the University of Oklahoma.
