Commission approves 2020 city budget

Ponca City’s Board of Commissioners approved the city’s budget for 2019-20 at Tuesday night’s special session.

City Manager Craig Stephenson presented the final budget, which totals $108,490,538.  He said this represents an increase of 4.3 percent over the 2018-19 budget, but includes two new businesses: Ponca City Broadband, which is bringing fiber broadband connections to residents’ homes, and the Ponca City RecPlex.

One accomplishment Stephenson emphasized for  the coming year’s budget is that no increases were made in utility rates.

Instead, he said, the focus is on Capital Improvement Projects for physical improvements and repairs.

Stephenson noted there are five new employee positions in the budget, with three new employees at the RecPlex and two employees with Ponca City Broadband. There was one employee transfer from Marland’s Grand Home to the Marland Mansion.