Last week, El Reno Mayor Matt White suggested county leaders consider financing options other than sales tax or property tax in the ongoing effort to build a new jail for Canadian County. One idea proposed by White was to tap the resources of the Oklahoma Environmental Management Authority to finance construction.
It's an interesting idea.
Could OEMA provide a no-interest loan to build a dormitory onto the existing jail? Could OEMA assets be pledged to secure financing from local banks? Does OEMA have deep reserves that could be tapped to help make the necessary improvements? Are there areas other than the jail that OEMA could help support in Canadian County?
OEMA is a county authority, with its focus being the collection of trash and operating the county landfill. OEMA collects trash for most of the cities in the county, as well as several communities outside the county.
Trash is big business and the operators of OEMA appear to have done a good job running the operation for the benefit of Canadian County residents and taxpayers. With that said, county officials owe it to these same taxpaying residents to explore every possible option for funding county improvements, including the jail. We don't know if there's a way to do what White has suggested, but we do believe taxpayers deserve to know the answer, especially before they are asked to dig into their pockets to fund another tax hike.
OEMA has a distinct business advantage compared to other firms in the trash-hauling business and no doubt there are private competitors that would love to have the OEMA's book of business. The advantage OEMA enjoys is its use of inmate labor. Where else can a business find a work force that is willing to work for virtually nothing in wages as well as zero benefits, other than some exercise, fresh air and maybe some time off for good behavior?
White's proposal drew a fairly predictable response from the OEMA general manager. David Griesel said OEMA depends on every penny it brings in. He cited debt service, operations and saving up for expensive projects that will be necessary down the road.
If we were looking through Griesel's eyes, no doubt we would have the same response. But we're not looking through his eyes and hopefully neither are the Canadian County commissioners and municipal leaders scattered around the county.
White's idea deserves open, honest and unbiased study. If the county can make improvements by using existing resources such as OEMA, the taxpayers who live here deserve to know.
We don't have all the answers, but we've got questions. We hope others, especially those in positions of leadership throughout the county, will have questions as well.