DUNCAN — Duncan reported general tax revenues were down 15.7 percent for a loss of $470,800 through the month of December, said Duncan Financial Director Gerald Morris.

“(However) we’re not down as much as other cities in the nation,” Morris said.

He estimated that even though Duncan is down, other cities have sales tax deficits closer to 20 or 25 percent below last year’s figures. And he said that while cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Lawton were all hit quickly during the economy downturn, it just took time for the effects of the sliding economy to appear in Duncan.

“We were one of the last (areas) to go down,” Morris said.

Morris attributes the downfall in revenue to several factors. Many people were laid off in the last year from local businesses and manufacturing companies, which resulted in less money being spent.

“Some may have moved, I don’t know for sure, but other people just aren’t buying as many things,” Morris said.

The sales tax generated for the City of Duncan comes from local economy. For every item sold in Duncan, the city gets a certain amount of tax revenue. This tax revenue is where the city gets its money for operation expenses.

Morris said the city is still in good shape and many things have helped in the past to make the current situation a little easier than it could have been.

“Our expenses are not as much as they have been in recent years, and we usually keep below the budget,” Morris said. “We’re still above what we expected (in tax revenue) though.”

Something that Morris attributes to the longevity of resisting the slow economy is the lack of luxury item stores in Duncan. Things such as expensive furniture and specialty stores aren’t as numerous as they are in other cities. He said for the most part, Duncan stores sell the necessities for people, which has helped keep tax revenues from falling.

City Manager Clyde Shaw noted that several saving procedures have been implemented to help save money.

The decision for the city to move to a four-day work week was made to help save utility usage costs at the city building and on other expenses. Several employment positions with the city remain vacant for the time being to save in payroll. Those include two positions in the parks department, three in the police department and one part-time position at the library.

Duncan will eliminate the meter-reader positions after the new electronic meter system is finished.

Shaw said many spending decisions are being carefully monitored to conserve wherever possible. He said that the main focus of purchasing items or services now falls under the questions “Do we need this,” and “Can it wait?”

In conjunction with regular tax revenue, the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) funds are down. Morris said that a portion of the taxes in Duncan goes toward the CIP as voted upon by the public.

The CIP funds go toward city projects and maintenance in parks, cemeteries and the swimming pool.

“Those departments don’t generate enough revenue to support themselves, so that’s what the CIP is for,” Shaw said.

The revenue goes toward purchasing equipment for the Public Works department and for other city services.

“We’ve got a truck at the (animal) Shelter that is literally falling apart,” Shaw said. “There’s no need to sink $5,000 into something that’s falling apart already, so it’s things like that that still need to be replaced.”

City projects fall under CIP, but the Honeywell project, 10th Street renovations and the new water tower already have funds set aside for them. Therefore, any ongoing projects are not in danger of being stopped.

Even though tax revenue is down and the City of Duncan is doing a bit of penny pinching, both Morris and Shaw seemed confident that the city will pull out of this low point, much like it has in the past.

“During the last downturn the city built the Simmons Center, sort of our own local stimulus package,” Shaw said. “We’ve been through downturns before, we just need to hold on and move forward.”



-Kevin Kerr is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354 Ext. 147 or by e-mail at kevin.kerr@duncanbanner.com.