OKC FRIDAY Vol. 58 No. 4• One Section • 12 pages • May 31, 2024 $1 per copy
www.okcfriday.com facebook.com/okcfriday OKC’s only locally-owned legal newspaper with all local news Serving affluent far north Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills and The Village for 50 years
Village police, fire to join other metro cities on OKC radio system By Eric Oesch Staff Writer Councilmembers in The Village have approved an agreement with the Oklahoma City Police Department that brings enhanced police and fire department radio communications to The Village. The city incurs approxi-
mately $30,000 per year for usage and maintenance fees from Oklahoma City. Village Police Chief Russ Landon and Fire Chief Chris Brigan addressed the council in support of the agreement before it was unanimously approved. The city currently uses the stateoperated Oklhoma Wirless Information Network
(OKWIN) for both the fire and police departments. Under the new agreement, The Village joins other metro cities such as Bethany Warr Acres and Yukon which have been successfully running on the Oklahoma City Radio Network system for years. “We are currently on the state’s radio system, devel-
oped years ago for state agencies, primarily the highway patrol, to communicate along the I-44 corridor from Lawton to Tulsa,” said Police Chief Russ Landon. “The Oklahoma City Radio Network was developed so OKC employees could communicate better by radio. “The state system was
See VILLAGE, Page 3
OKC inks agreement for new arena
Celebration of Hope Actor Tom Selleck with Celebration of Hope Sponsorship Chairman Mary Blankenship Pointer. The event was hosted by the Salvation Army and featured an interview with Selleck. The event raised nearly $1 million to support the Salvation Army’s local programs.
By Rose Lane Editor
The hotel tax is currently 5.5% and is distributed as follows: •55% for OKC Fairgrounds for improvements, not including operational costs. •36% formtourism promotion, direct funding to promote and/or foster the convention and/or tourism (visitor) development of Oklahoma City. • 9% for event sponsorships. The 9.25% hotel tax would be in addition to the 4.5% state
Oklahoma City Council approved a development agreement for the city’s new arena between the city and PBC Sports and Entertainment, LLC (PBCS&E), owners of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Oklahoma City Blue. The arena is to be located in the city-owned former site of the Cox Convention Center, which is now Prairie Surf Studios. The city did not extend the organization’s lease, which ends in 2025, after voters approved a special one-cent sales tax for the arena in December. The development agreement is based on the original 2008 past arrangement which was used to improve the current arena and build the practice facility used by the Thunder. It also aligns with the Letter of Intent approved by the City Council in September 2023. The development agreement covers major elements of the process of designing and constructing the new arena. Agreement overview: Funding — OKC agrees to spend a minimum of $900 million on the new arena. The new arena is to be funded by (listed in order of how the money is to be spent): • $78 million from MAPS 4. • $50 million from PBCS&E. • A minimum of $772 million, financed through the 72-month, one-cent special sales tax. Any surplus revenue from the one-cent special sales tax after the arena's construction and repayment of financing costs is to be allocated to capital improvements and maintenance of the new arena. The agreement acknowledges that there are no other sources of revenue to fund the new arena, and so the agreement provides that if the costs appear to exceed available budgeted funds, the parties will work together to value engineer the
See TAX, Page 3
See ARENA, Page 3
For more, see Page 12.
Election set to raise hotel tax rate to 9.25 percent Oklahoma City Council set a citywide election for Aug. 27 to increase the hotel tax from 5.50% to 9.25%. The tax is charged to people who stay overnight in a hotel or rent a home-sharing property in OKC. Oklahoma City residents last considered a hotel tax increase in 2004, when it passed with 89.4% approval. If the election passes, the 3.75% increase is projected to bring in an additional $11.6 mil-
designed for users to communicate outside over distance. The OKC system was designed for users to communicate clearly in a metropolitan environment, with greater clarity indoors.” While The Village has not needed to pay for using the state’s system, Chief Landon
lion, which is to be allocated to as follows: •75% for tourism promotion, direct funding to promote and/or foster the convention and/or tourism (visitor) development of Oklahoma City. •13.3% for event sponsorships. •6.7% for OKC Fairgrounds for improvements, not including operational costs. •5% for OKC Convention Center for improvements, not including operational costs.
Sign-up now to protect home from scams Anyone’s home can be sold out from under them — even Elvis Presley’s. “It took a judge’s decision to prevent the sale of the iconic home of ‘The King’ and if some scammer is bold enough to try and rob Elvis Presley’s family — anyone could become a victim,” said Oklahoma County Assessor Larry Stein. “Make sure your home is safe from being sold out from under you: monitor your property ownership on the web at oklahomacounty.org/assessor,” Stein said. On the website you can find out information about your taxes through a link to the County
Treasurer’s Office, and can follow a link to the County Clerk’s Office and sign up for alerts if someone attempts to tamper with the deed to your property, Stein said. “This service is free from the County Clerk’s Office and you can sign up at alert.okcc.online. Register and OPT-IN to the filing Alert System. The Clerk’s Office will notify you by phone, email or text,” Stein said. “The King is dead—but that didn’t stop scammers from trying to steal Graceland. Protect your property and continue to be the king - or queen - of your castle and sign up your property today.”
FRIDAY’s Dog of the Week This is Lana Walts. She is a 13year-old pug and is the sweetest dog ever. She lives with her human caretakers, Patrick & Kara Tam Walts in The Village and is happiest on the couch with her people. Who could resist this face? Email Dog of the Week, Baby of the Week and Cat of the Week submissions to rose@okcfriday.com.