Due to recent legislation enacted by the Oklahoma House and Senate, the legislators decided that out of state livestock owners should receive the gift of real property tax exemptions for all livestock that they own in Oklahoma. This means that the valuation and tax revenue to the county and schools have been decreased to accommodate these out of state businesses, many of which are large corporations.
Prior to this new law, only livestock that supported families and companies that resided in Oklahoma were exempt from ad valorem taxes. That law made sense and was an equitable solution to taxes that were harming small, family-owned operations in the state. The current law demonstrates a total disregard of the Oklahoma legislature for rural, agricultural counties and schools.
Fortunately, the Boise City School bond proposal was planned very conservatively from the beginning so there is enough flexibility built into the process to be able to still deliver the bond as planned with only minor adjustments.