State Board Of Equalization Approves Record-Breaking Budget Estimate

The State of Oklahoma is planning to have more spending money than ever before as lawmakers set their eyes on the fiscal year 2023 budget.

However, despite the record amount of anticipated available funds, Gov. Kevin Stitt and budget leaders are urging caution.

“Oklahomans are in a really good spot,” Stitt said after Monday’s Board of Equalization meeting.

“The numbers are really, really good. There’s no doubt about it,” Budget Chairman and Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, said.

Despite celebrating an anticipated record setting $10.3 billion available for the 2023 budget, Stitt and budget leaders said a good chuck of that is one-time savings; money they plan to hold on to.

“It would be like if you make $50,000 a year and you have a onetime gift $50,000. You aren’t going go and increase your expenses to $100,000, because next year, you’re going to be in a bind,” Stitt said.

The governor said he’s working on crafting a flat budget to present to lawmakers in February.

“I do want to be very cautious as we move into this next fiscal year,” Thompson said. “We’ve got an over 6% inflationary rate, (the revenue presentation) said our use tax, our sales tax numbers are being inflated so I think we need to be really, really cautious on what we our spending is.”

Thompson said he’s dedicated to ensuring one-time money is not spent on reoccurring expenses, however there is one increase he said he’s eyeing for the upcoming budget.

“And that is our state employee pay,” he said. “I think there are several agencies where we need to make sure they’re being paid a decent wage as we move forward. The highway patrol is one of those.”

The 2022 legislative session begins in six weeks on February 7.