Norman voters to decide on bond issues

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

Norman voters will decide some big-dollar issues at the polls on Tuesday. Some of the issues at hand could wind up raising taxes in Norman for years to come, but only minimally.

One item on the ballot on Tuesday is a half-cent sales tax increase over the next seven years to help build two new fire stations, hire 30 firefighters and 41 police officers. 

"Every day there are calls given out where there is nobody to send," sales tax supporter Steve Lucas said.

Little opposition to the public safety measure appears to have surfaced.

One item that is seeing some controversy is a $50 million bond issue to build a new library in downtown Norman. The new library would replace the old one built in the 1960s. One University of Oklahoma engineering professor said the new 118,000-square-foot facility would be unnecessary.

"The pioneer library has a lot of peripheral activities that can't be replaced by bookshelves and reading places," Norman Library Director Susan Gregory said.