Mayor Nichols Presents FY27 Proposed Budget to Tulsa City Council

Mayor Nichols Presents FY27 Proposed Budget to Tulsa City Council

4/22/2026

Earlier this evening, Mayor Monroe Nichols presented a $1.22 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2027 to the Tulsa City Council, which included a $443.7 million budget for the General Fund. The General Fund supports the City's day-to-day operations and reflects a continued commitment to fiscal responsibility while also taking steps to strengthen public safety, improve neighborhood conditions, and invest in the workforce needed to deliver core City services.

"This budget is about aligning our resources with clarity, consistency and accountability with the priorities of our residents," Mayor Nichols said. "It invests in the people, services, and infrastructure that will make Tulsa a safer, stronger, and more resilient city, and I'm proud of the entire team at the City for helping put this year's proposal together. I'm eager to discuss this budget proposal in further detail with my colleagues on the City Council in the weeks ahead as we work to advance the needs of the community."

Vision Funding Proposal to Support Key Priorities
One of the key highlights from the FY27 proposed budget is the inclusion of a strategic, one-time funding approach that proposes the utilization of available 2016 Vision Tulsa funds over multiple years to assist the City in addressing priority needs such as public safety facilities, homelessness response, and economic development.

As background, in 2016, three propositions were taken to Tulsa voters. One component of that package was Proposition 3, which created a funding stream for economic development projects across the city. To date, all the projects in the 2016 Vision Tulsa fund are either funded and/or fully committed to. On top of that, the Vision Tulsa fund has overperformed projections and given the City a fund balance from this fund.

Currently, there is an additional $103 million in the Vision 2016 fund that is/will be available for one-time use, along with 15% of the City's ongoing use tax collections, which total $12 million annually. With an ordinance change, this fund balance could be utilized to help with addressing the city's most pressing needs and economic commitments. Ultimately, these monies could be used to unlock funding for:

• Addressing funding gaps on critical projects, including the Public Safety Center
• Addressing the future of Downtown sites like Tulsa Municipal Court and the City's lockup facility in line with the Arena District Master Plan;
• Continuing the progress of Safe Move Tulsa and the City's homelessness efforts;
• Providing for localized neighborhood needs; and
• Making investments in upcoming economic development opportunities across our city

Public Safety and Emergency Management
Public safety continues to be a top priority for the City, and the FY27 proposed budget places a strong emphasis on aligning resources and investments to continue to achieve better outcomes.

Included in the budget is:

• Funding for two police academies, adding 55 new officers;
• Funding for two additional civilian police positions to support digital evidence and records processing;
• Funding for one fire academy, adding 22 fire cadets to maintain full staffing levels;
• $7 million in capital funding for fire apparatus and equipment;
• Funding for the creation of the City's first Office of Emergency Management, including:
  • Director of Emergency Management, Grants Compliance Officer and an Administrative Aide;
  • Technology related to Tulsa's siren system and communication tools; and
• $25 million to complete buildout of new Public Safety Center (Vision Tulsa 2016 funding proposal)

Tulsa Animal Services
The proposed budget includes support to increase capacity to improve response times, reduce loose animals, further spay and neuter educational efforts, and support the transition to the new shelter, which is expected to open later this summer.

The FY27 proposed budget includes funding for nine new positions, including; two animal control officers; an additional veterinarian; and six additional operational support staff.

Tulsa Municipal Court
In 2025, Tulsa Municipal Court realized a 10% increase in the number of people showing up for their court dates. Given this momentum, the City will begin moving 10 temporary grant-funded positions permanently into the general fund for FY28. These permanent positions will support continued improvements in court operations and case processing.

Code Enforcement: Increasing Peak Response Times from "3 Months to 30 Days or Less"
Currently, code enforcement has a backlog of 1,600 cases, and in peak growing season, the backlog can grow to more than 3,500 cases. To help reduce the backlog of cases and improve response times, the proposed budget includes funding for four new positions and expanded operational funding.

With this additional staffing and operational support, the goal is to reduce response times during peak season for Priority 2 and 3 cases from (at times) more than 3 Months to Under 30 Days or Less within the first year.

Investing in Safer Neighborhoods and Core Infrastructure
The FY27 budget makes targeted investments to improve quality of life across Tulsa, including:

• Installation of nearly 1,200 new neighborhood lights in priority areas, including:
  • Sequoyah Neighborhood, Suburban Hills Neighborhood, Charles Page Neighborhood and Riverwood Neighborhood area near 61st and Peoria
• Continued funding for parks, pools, youth programs, mowing cycles, graffiti removal, and neighborhood maintenance
• $16 million for streets and transportation projects including preventative maintenance and street striping; and
• $19.5 million for housing initiatives to support affordable housing goals

Homelessness & Safe Move Tulsa
Given the success of Safe Move Tulsa including the additional needs to address homelessness, the FY27 budget continues funding for Safe Move Tulsa, building on early success that has already helped house more than a hundred individuals and close encampments.

The FY27 budget includes $6.5 million for Year 2 of the plan and will continue the success of the strategy by building on the effort to house more than 1,000 people by the end of the year.

Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility and Employees
Importantly, given the discussion of bringing the budget in line with the cost of doing business - which was a major focus of FY26 budget conversations, the FY27 budget reduces the City's reliance on one-time fund balance by $5.1 million, continuing the City's effort to better align ongoing expenses with recurring revenues. While the Vision 2016 funding could help offset some capital costs in this budget, the City did freeze 45 long standing vacant positions to reach a balanced budget while maintaining current service levels. The Administration also made a commitment to work with the Council to honor current obligations to City employees now and plan for wage enhancements in the future.

Utility Rate Adjustments
To support critical infrastructure and long-term system reliability, the FY27 budget proposal includes utility rate adjustments to protect the City's core infrastructure and keep pace with the cost of doing business.

As part of the rate adjustments, the typical residential customer can expect an increase of approximately $5.82 per month, reflecting a:

• 7% increase for water
• 4.7% increase for sewer
• 7% increase for stormwater
• 4% increase for refuse and recycling

These adjustments are based on professional, multi-year modeling and have been approved by the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority (TMUA) and the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy (TARE). Utility customers who are signed up for EMSAcare will not see a change for that service on their bills.

Full Speech & More Information
The Mayor's full budget speech and presentation can be found online at: www.cityoftulsa.org/mayor