They cast ballots to decide school bonds, a hospital sale and public safety issues. Below are many of the notable results. The full results are available on the state Department of Elections website.
Clinton voters greenlight hospital’s private sale
Clinton Regional Hospital will be sold to a private company for $6 million. The company Rural Hospital Solutions will also manage the property and be responsible for its daily operations.
In November, Clinton City Council members approved the sale of the Clinton Regional Hospital to the private company for $6 million.
The public vote was the final step to solidify the sale. More than 90% of votes cast were in favor of the move.
Hospital CEO Len Lacefield said the sale will take the “financial stress and liability” of the hospital off the city and help ramp up available medical services in the area.
Clinton Regional Hospital is the only hospital in the western Oklahoma town of more than 8,000 people. It reopened in October 2023 after being closed for 10 months due to financial issues.
Whether a town has a hospital is the “first thing” a business will ask about when deciding whether to set up shop, Clinton Chamber of Commerce president Julie Caldwell said on social media.
Lacefield said that rural hospitals are struggling nationwide, and their closures significantly impact a community's health.
Inola Public Schools students won’t get new elementary classrooms
Inola voters rejected a roughly $62.5 million bond package to fund a new building housing classrooms for grades 2 through 5.
Students in Inola’s elementary school currently learn in a former high school built in 1964, which saw an addition built in 2008. To accommodate growing enrollment, the district uses modular buildings.
Without the new building, school district officials say repairs to the current building will have to be made during the school year, as the project would take too long to be completed in the summer. The property tax increase would have been on average $22 a month.
Kingfisher sales tax to continue
Shoppers in Kingfisher will continue to pay a half-cent sales tax to fund a new fire station.
The sales tax was initially approved in 2021 and was expected to last five years. However, it was later discovered that the proposal relied on outdated numbers and would not collect enough funds for the project. The fire department proposed extending the tax another ten years to complete construction.
According to a video published by All About Kingfisher, the current fire station cannot store all of the crew’s equipment, requiring some of it to be kept off-site. The station also has only one shower for the six firefighters on duty at any given time. Team members told All About Kingfisher that this can challenge firefighters, who try to shower as soon as possible after returning from a call to reduce their exposure to carcinogens.
The new fire station will include expanded space for equipment and trucks and more lodging space for firefighters.
Muskogee voters approve new public safety center
Nearly 60% of Muskogee County voters approved a sales tax increase to fund public safety buildings.
The county sales tax will more than double to 1.499% for several years before dropping after the completion of construction for a new public safety complex.
The new complex will house the police department, sheriff’s office, 911 center, and EMS services, which will bring ambulances within nine miles of all county residents, allowing first responders to reach call sites more quickly.
Noble latest Oklahoma city to get hotel tax
Noble voters overwhelmingly supported a new hotel tax, with more than 80 percent of voters voicing their approval.
Noble is the latest city to approve a hotel tax increase in Oklahoma.
Both Alva and Oklahoma City approved hotel tax increases last summer. Noble does not currently charge a hotel tax or have a hotel, but the city’s tax would be 5% in the future.
Noble voters also approved a $510,000 bond package to purchase a new ambulance and equipment. Residents will see a bump in their local property tax bill of $3 per $1,000 in taxable value.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
