Tulsa City Council Urban & Economic Development Committee Meeting – August 26, 2026

The Urban & Economic Development (UED) Committee of the Tulsa City Council met on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at One Technology Center in Tulsa. The agenda lists a 10:30 a.m. start; the supplied timestamp is 2026-08-26 16:30:00+00:00. The committee considered appointments, FY 2026-27 budget amendments, the City's FY 2026 year-end budget report, and presentations from the Tulsa Regional Chamber on economic development, tourism, and legislative advocacy. No public comment period is reflected in the transcript, and no recorded committee votes with tallies appear in the meeting record.

Consent Calendar

• No formal consent calendar was designated, but agenda items 2 through 7 were routine appointment and budget matters. The chair indicated the appointments would be taken up by the full City Council on September 2, 2026.
• Christopher Sighinolfi was presented for appointment to the Tulsa Stadium Trust, replacing Caron Lawhorn as Trustee #6, with a term expiring September 2, 2031. Council members welcomed his analytic background.
• James Turner was presented for reappointment to the Tulsa Preservation Commission, with a term expiring October 1, 2027. Turner described himself as a licensed architect and principal at Synergy, with more than 25 years on the commission and service under six mayors. He said full overlay zoning is the strongest protection for historic neighborhoods.
• Ordinance 26-716-1: Supplemental FY 2026-27 appropriation of $58,514 for the Historic Preservation Grant SubFund, comprising $35,108 from Oklahoma Historical Society grant revenue and a $23,406 General Fund match, plus a $23,406 transfer within the General Fund. Finance staff said it supports local historic preservation enforcement, public participation, and a Phase II study for Harvard Hills.
• Ordinance 26-717-1: FY27 start-of-year budget action recognizing $45,000 from unappropriated fund balance in the General Fund and $3,064,000 in the TMUA Sewer Operating Fund. The finance presenter explained it covers purchasing-system timing gaps and trues up appropriations for items such as police e-citation software, sewer capital equipment, sewer camera line trucks, lift station pump equipment, and fire department laundry equipment.
• Ordinance 26-718-1: Transfer of $23,632.32 within the 2014 Sales Tax Fund, from Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority and strategic mobility plan accounts to the corridor and small area plan project under Planning and Neighborhoods.
• Ordinance 26-719-1: Transfer of unencumbered and unexpended balances of $1,418,714.51 within the TMUA Water Capital Projects SubFund, $52,186.01 within the TMUA Sewer Capital Projects SubFund, and $0.51 within the 2022A Sewer Revenue Bond SubFund, moving funds from completed projects to ongoing water and sewer work.

FY 2026 Year-End Budget Report

• Finance staff presented the June close report for FY 2026 (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026). The General Fund closed within plan: revenue was $417.8 million, about 2.7% above original estimates; expenditures were $411.8 million; $12.6 million in contracts and purchase orders rolled into FY27; and $15.3 million of appropriation balance remained unspent. About 96.5% of approved General Fund spending authority was spent or obligated.
• The General Fund added $4.8 million to its unassigned fund balance for FY26, compared with $2.1 million in FY25.
• Revenue estimates were $406.9 million versus actual revenue of $417.8 million, a net $10.9 million overage. Interest earnings beat estimates by $6.8 million and sales tax by $6 million. Use tax missed budget by $689,000 but exceeded the prior year by $1.4 million. The transcript includes an earlier reference to a $7.7 million use tax gap; the later, more detailed clarification was $689,000 below budget. Finance staff said use tax has been hard to predict since the streamlined sales tax agreement.
• Finance staff cautioned that Tulsa should not depend on high interest earnings because rates and cash-pool conditions can change.
• The largest unspent balances were concentrated in personnel services, largely vacancies, plus other services and contracts. An end-of-year $9.4 million appropriation for compensation increases contributed to leftover balances in police and fire.
• Police overtime exceeded the original projection by $1.9 million, while fire overtime came in $150,000 below projections, in part because of a new fire overtime-management process.
• TMUA water and sewer operating funds beat their full-year revenue estimates, and stormwater significantly overperformed. Finance staff said rate-setting reviews consider fund balance each year.
• Council members raised code enforcement and Planning and Neighborhoods staffing, noting constituent complaints, lost positions over the summer, and a large backlog. They asked for a future discussion on abatement capacity and planning resources. One council member noted the public safety sales tax fund is restricted to specific public safety uses and cannot be shifted to code enforcement.

Tulsa Regional Chamber: Economic Development, Tourism, and Legislative Advocacy

• Chamber staff highlighted continuing momentum in aerospace, space, advanced air mobility, and drones. They reported meeting 31 companies at the Farnborough International Air Show and cited MANA air delivery beginning delivery operations and manufacturing in Tulsa, plus Park Aerospace building advanced composites manufacturing at Tulsa International Airport.
• Economic development staff said there are 154 projects in the pipeline across diverse industries. Marketing results included 9.8 million impressions and 8,900 people seeking Tulsa information from talent-attraction ads, and 5.6 million impressions and 116,000 site visits from business-attraction ads.
• The Chamber is developing a talent resource hub website for employers to use when recruiting, with cost-of-living information and materials for prospective employees and families; a November 2026 launch is planned.
• Council members discussed the need for family-focused recruitment tools, affordable housing, child care as workforce infrastructure, homeownership opportunities, and intentional economic diversification. Some council members expressed concern about community skepticism of new technology such as drones and data-collection systems, and urged proactive public engagement and policy guardrails.
• Tourism staff reported an incredible year, exceeding the 175,000 room-night booking goal and citing over $334 million in total economic impact, with final figures to be presented at the Chamber's September 15, 2026 annual meeting.
• The Route 66 Capital Cruise event broke the world record with 3,596 cars, generating $185 million in economic impact and $26.5 million in advertising value. The film The Lowdown generated over 3,000 room nights, and its second season launches October 14, 2026. The Outsiders has a channel on American Airlines, and Southern Living recently featured Tulsa. Savitulsa has more than 1,000 credentialed volunteers, exceeding its 700-volunteer goal.
• Tourism and council members discussed the hotel/motel guest tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot and the need to show local event organizers, such as Oktoberfest, Juneteenth, and other homegrown festivals, how the revenue supports their events and the convention center.
• Government affairs staff reported that primary runoff turnout was about 21%, the lowest for an Oklahoma gubernatorial election since 1962. They noted Mike Macy will face House Minority Leader Cindy Munson in November, and outlined work on the One Voice task forces, the November 5, 2026 One Voice legislative summit, and interim studies on child care, apprenticeships, tourism promotion, revenue diversification, and tenant protections.
• Council members emphasized child care and parental-leave policy as workforce and economic issues, and encouraged collecting and sharing local housing stories with state legislators ahead of bill filing in November.

Key Outcomes

• No formal committee votes with tallies are reflected in the transcript; items were discussed and presented for later full council action.
• The appointments of Christopher Sighinolfi and James Turner are scheduled for full City Council consideration on September 2, 2026.
• FY 2026-27 budget ordinances were discussed; according to the agenda, they were scheduled for full council action on August 26 and September 2, 2026.
• The committee received the FY26 budget report and committed to continue monitoring police overtime and code enforcement and planning staffing issues.
• The Tulsa Regional Chamber will launch its talent resource hub in November 2026; its annual meeting is September 15, 2026, and the One Voice legislative summit is November 5, 2026.
• The hotel/motel guest tax will appear on the November 3, 2026 ballot.