Voters in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, approved a $415 million General Obligation (GO) Bond package earlier this month, marking the largest bond measure in the city’s history. The funding will support transportation, public safety, parks and recreation, public facilities, stormwater and library improvements.
According to officials, the bond package passed without increasing property or sales tax rates, as the new bonds replace previously retired debt. Voters rejected an eighth proposition on the ballot that would have increased sales tax by a half-cent and generated an estimated $46.5 million for the city, with funds going toward sports facility upgrades.
The 2026 package roughly doubles the $210 million GO bond voters approved in 2018, and city officials said the bond sale would occur over an 11-year period based on annual assessed property values.
Proposition 1, dealing with transportation, received the largest share of the bond at $205 million. Projects under this proposition include street widenings, intersection improvements, residential road rehabilitation, sidewalk and trail connectivity, signalization and Rose District repairs, among others.
Under Oklahoma state law, projects designated as “named” within an approved proposition must be completed as described. Unnamed projects carry second priority and are funded with remaining bond proceeds after named obligations are met.
Named projects and costs under Proposition 1 include street widening of Tucson/121st Street from Olive to Aspen at $15.6 million, New Orleans/101st Street from Garnett to Olive at $11.9 million and Olive/129th Street from New Orleans to Florence costing $11.5 million. The proposition also sets aside $25 million for residential street rehabilitation and $8.5 million in grant match allocation funds for future projects.
Proposition 2, involving public safety, brought in $56 million in bonds with $18.4 million of that going toward purchasing fire trucks. Another $10.2 million will be used to construct a new fire station, and $5 million will go toward a classroom addition at the Public Safety Training Center. The proposition also earmarks $3 million for an expansion and renovation of the city’s animal shelter and $1 million for outdoor warning system improvements.
Proposition 3 covers quality of life, with the centerpiece being a $42 million community center at Elam Park. Receiving $74 million in total, the proposition also covers funds for splash pads, pickleball courts, upgrades to playground equipment and a new $5.6 million dog park. Another $2.5 million is set aside for improvements to the Battle Creek Golf Course.
Proposition 4 puts $65 million toward public facilities, with the largest named investment being an $18 million expansion and renovation of the city’s senior center. The Rose District Plaza is set to receive a $10 million expansion, while the military history museum would see a $9.2 million expansion of its own. Other named projects include a $7.5 million expansion of Arts@302, a $5 million history museum expansion and a $1.7 million renovation of the veterans center.
The other propositions include:
- Proposition 5 — Stormwater ($6 million): Funds drainage pond and downtown drainage improvements across several areas of the city.
- Proposition 6 — Drainage ($5 million): Targets creek basin improvements across Adams Creek, Haikey Creek, Broken Arrow Creek and the Elm and Aspen Creek basins.
- Proposition 7 — Library Partnership ($4 million): Invests in a new South Broken Arrow Library in partnership with the Tulsa City-County Library system.
The bond package was the result of a more than two-year planning effort that began in 2023, when the city council authorized work to begin on evaluating growth opportunities across the city. That process initially identified more than $1 billion in potential capital improvement projects, which officials narrowed to $415 million through input from residents, community organizations, Broken Arrow Public Schools and the local Chamber of Commerce, among other partners. The city council finalized the proposition list on Dec. 16, 2025, following a two-week public review period.
City staff are expected to begin building a construction schedule based on projected property tax revenues from each annual bond sale. City officials say streets and public safety projects are expected to receive early funding priority.
Photo by I, Jordanmac, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, from Wikimedia Commons
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