Del City homeowners would pay about $28 more per year on a home valued at $100,000 if voters approve a $3 million general obligation bond on Aug. 25.

The measure would fund a new fire engine, an upgraded outdoor warning siren system and 10 police SUVs, replacing equipment that city officials say is aging out. City Manager JD Hock, Fire Chief Z Williams, Police Chief Steven Stogner and Mayor Greg Childers laid out the proposal at a town hall at the Del City community center during the week of Aug. 11, according to the Central Oklahoma Weeklies.

The bond would replace a 2011 GO bond set to expire in November after 15 years.

What the money buys

The largest item is a new pumper truck at roughly $1.5 million. It would replace Engine 3, a 2013 model that Williams said has logged more than 9,000 engine hours, roughly the equivalent of running nonstop for a year. Hock said the base cost of a new engine is about $1.2 million, with another $250,000 for radios and hoses. Build time: about 50 months.

A $300,000 combination brush-and-rescue vehicle would retire two 2014 trucks with a single unit modeled after one used by Edmond, letting crews respond to brush fires or medical calls without switching rigs.

Another $300,000 would replace the city's outdoor warning siren system. The current setup requires an employee to manually trigger a warning and runs on software no longer supported by its manufacturer. Childers said the system still operates on Windows 7.

"Our current system is no longer supported," Williams said at the town hall. "The software is updated, but they won't return your calls."

The replacement would use Command One software, already in service at several other metro-area fire departments, and could activate sirens remotely when severe weather approaches. Childers said parts of Del City cannot hear the existing sirens; the new system would have 12 horns.

Police Chief Stogner said $750,000 would replace 10 patrol vehicles, four Ford Taurus sedans and six Ford Explorers, most dating to 2014. The replacements would be Ford Police Interceptor SUVs with reinforced bumpers designed to withstand about 10 times the impact of the current fleet's push bars, plus an upgraded lighting package. The department has 39 sworn officers and 15 newer vehicles purchased in 2023 and 2024 that are not part of this request.

The remaining $150,000 covers bond issuance costs, including fees for the city's financial adviser and bond counsel.

Tax impact

If approved, the property tax millage rate would rise from 3.24 mills to as much as 6.04 mills in 2027, then decline each year until the bond is paid off in 2030. That makes it a four-year obligation, far shorter than the 15 years the 2011 bond required.

Hock told residents that no Oklahoma city uses property tax for day-to-day operations; the levy exists only to repay voter-approved bonds. A half-cent capital improvement sales tax approved in 2017 generates about $1.4 million a year, but that revenue is committed to a $12.5 million loan the city took out in 2019 for a library, fire station and public safety vehicles. That loan won't be paid off until 2033.

Childers said the upgrades could also help residents' property insurance costs by protecting the city's ISO rating.

How to vote

Polls open Aug. 25. Early in-person absentee voting runs Thursday and Friday, Aug. 21–22, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 23, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. State law requires employers to allow workers up to two hours to vote on Election Day. More information is available on the city's bond election page.