Velocity OKC- 2024: A Year of Progress for MAPS 4
This year many of the dreams of MAPS 4 will become reality. Oklahoma City voters overwhelmingly approved the $968 million revitalization plan in 2019, but nothing has been easy since. The pandemic of 2020 triggered economic disruptions, skyrocketing construction costs and crippling inflation, all major obstacles to completing the long list of projects included in MAPS 4. Those driving the program forward shared their insight during a panel discussion at last month’s Chamber Forum.
“If you were to go back and look at the consumer price index from the summer of 2019, it's essentially about 20% inflation. So, think what the impact of a 20% increase in cost means,” said Jason Cotton, president and CEO of ADG Blatt, the MAPS 4 program consultant. “It has changed the way that we've had to design projects, the way we've had to approach projects, and the way we had to think about construction on projects.”
An eight-year penny sales tax funds MAPS 4. Projects aren’t started until the funds are collected. Teresa Rose, MAPS 4 Citizen Advisory Board Chairperson, said they realized the jump in construction costs would affect what they could build. Thankfully, collections are about 2% over projections.
“In previous versions of MAPS, we held that money because of normal escalation and construction costs, but this time city council went ahead and approved an additional $100 million to go ahead and add to the projects and deliver what was promised,” said Rose.