FY 2018 Budget Highlights

Download the budget highlights as a pdf.

OK Policy’s annual Budget Highlights issue brief is one of the most informative and accessible ways to track Oklahoma’s public spending. Today we’ve released the FY 2018 Budget Highlights, which includes a bullet point summary of the state budget, charts illustrating different aspects of the budget, and a table showing appropriations for every state agency going back to 2009. You can find more information and analysis about the state budget at our Budget & Taxes Issue Page.

Appropriations are flat compared to FY 2017 and remain significantly below pre-recession (FY 2009) levels.

Total appropriations for FY 2018 are $6.848 billion. This budget is $70 million (1.0 percent) more than the initial FY 2017 budget and $20 million (0.3 percent) less than the final FY 2017 budget after mid-year budget cuts and supplemental appropriations.
Adjusted for inflation, the FY 2018 budget is $1.26 billion, or 15.6 percent, below FY 2009. More than half of all appropriated agencies – 39 of 65 – are more than 20 percent below FY 2009 funding levels, without accounting for inflation.

Most agency budgets will be cut deeper in FY 2018.

Forty-seven of the sixty-five agencies receiving state appropriations will see a further cut in FY 2018. Most agencies were cut by 4.9 percent, but ten agencies were held flat or cut by less than 1 percent. Seventeen agencies will see an increase compared to their initial FY 2017 appropriations [See Table 1].
Two agencies were made non-appropriated. Appropriations funding for the Horse Racing Commission was replaced by a share of gross gaming revenues going to the agency. Appropriations for the Fire Marshal was replaced by off-the-top apportionment of the first $2 million in fire insurance premium tax revenues.
Of the ten largest state agencies, CareerTech received the deepest cut in FY 2018 – 4.2 percent compared to its initial FY 2017 funding. Higher Education received the second deepest cut (3.95 percent), which comes on top of a 15.9 percent cut to Higher Education in FY 2017.

The budget includes more than $800 million in additional revenue beyond the certified estimate.

Lawmakers generated an additional $821 million for the FY 2018 budget to add to the $6.030 billion certified by the State Equalization Board in February.
The most significant revenue enhancements were a $1.50 per pack fee on cigarettes ($214 million), a 1.25 percent use tax on vehicle purchases ($111 million), elimination of some gross production tax breaks and rebates for wells drilled before FY 2015 ($138 million), and transfers from transportation funds ($150 million), the Rainy Day Fund ($83 million), and agency revolving funds ($60 million).
Of the $821 million in additional revenues, about $369 million (45 percent) are one-time revenues which will need to be replaced in developing the FY 2019 budget.
Various recurring revenue options were considered but not adopted, including increasing fuel taxes, increasing gross production taxes on newly drilled wells, and capping itemized deductions.