Split city council repeals McAlester Cancer Center sales tax

Apr. 11—A majority of the city council voted by a split 4-to-3 vote Tuesday night to repeal the one-eighth cent sales tax to fund expansion of the McAlester Cancer Center.

Joining Ward 4 City Councilor Randy Roden in his motion to repeal the measurer were new Ward 1 Councilor Levi Gilmore; Chris Stone, Ward 3 and Billy Jack Boatright, Ward 5.

Voting "no" in opposition to the repeal were McAlester Mayor John Browne, Ward 2 Councilor Justin Few and Ward 6 Councilor Kevin Beaty.

Mayor Browne appeared stunned when Roden's motion passed to repeal the one-eighth cent sales tax for the Cancer Center.

"This is the absolute worse decision this council has ever made and we should be ashamed," Browne said afterwards.

Browne said later he is hopeful some of the city councilors who voted to repeal the sales tax will reconsider their vote.

Roden made the motion after McAlester City Attorney John T. Hammons concluded in a legal opinion that city councilors could repeal the one-eighth cent sales tax approved by a vote of the people in 2018 to fund the McAlester Cancer Center expansion.

"The City Council may unilaterally revoke any tax ordinance previously approved by the people acting at election without the need to have such revocation submitted to the people for their ratification," Hammons stated in his legal opinion.

"Any tax ordinance revoked by the City Council may not be reinstated except upon resubmission of the reinstated tax ordinance to the people for their approval called for such pupose," Hammons continued.

What is the status of the one-eighth cent sales tax to fund the Cancer Center expansion now that a majority of the city council has voted to repeal it?

It did not come up for a vote as an emergency measure, which if passed, would have caused it to take effect immediately. As a result, like other city measures passed without the emergency designation, the repeal is set to go into effect 30 days after passage.

That means for now the one-eighth cent sales tax will continue to be collected and the proceeds will continue to be sent to MRHC for the Cancer Center expansion.

Hammons said the city of McAlester will notify the Oklahoma Tax Commission that the tax has been repealed.

"It will be collected until the Oklahoma Tax Commission tells the vendors to quit collecting," Hammons said.

McAlester Regional Health Center Public Information Officer Chris Plunkett said Wednesday repeal of the one-eighth cent sales tax is disappointing.

"It's a sad day for McAlester," Plunkett said.

"We're obviously disappointed in the outcome," he said. "It's not taking away from the hospital; it's taking away from future cancer care in McAlester."

Plunkett noted that in the 2018 election, approximately 56% of the community said they were committed to the 15-year plan for the McAlester Treatment Center, a reference to the 15-year duration of the sales tax approved by voters.

He said now, a handful of city councilors have repealed a measure approved by the people of McAlester.

"It seems like they would support their vote," Plunkett said, referring to the people in McAlester who voted to pass the measure in 2018.

"We're sad for the citizens of McAlester that went to the polls," said Plunkett, another reference to McAlester voters who cast ballots in 2018 to approve the eighth-cent sales to approve funding for the Cancer Center expansion.

Today the McAlester Regional Health Center has nearly $3 million, or $2.988,9128.09 in the bank from the sales tax collections for the McAlester Cancer Treatment Center expansion, Plunkett said.

MRHC cannot legally spend the money for anything other than expansion of the McAlester Treatment Center and ancillary services.

Prior to the Tuesday night vote, citizens Sonja DaJacio and Richard Bowden addressed the council.

Both were critical of McAlester Regional Health Center CEO Shawn Howard's decision to transition the hospital from its from its longtime agreement of more than 20 years with the physician-owned Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute.

MRHC is transitioning into a new agreement with the Oklahoma University Health Stephenson Cancer Center.

Browne told them that the hospital's decision had nothing to do with the matter before the council Tuesday night on whether to repeal the one-eighth cent sales tax.

Transitioning to join the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center gives the McAlester hospital the opportunity to align itself with the only National Cancer Institute Designated Cancer Center in Oklahoma.