Muskogee City leaders planning to request audit ahead of multi-million dollar bond vote

People in Muskogee are raising concerns and want questions answered about how the City is spending its tax dollars.

This comes before they vote on a multi-million dollar bond issue next month.

On Wednesday afternoon, City leaders announced plans to request a forensic audit of previous spending.

People in Muskogee have been asking for this audit for quite some time.

Looking into some of the biggest developments in the city in recent years and now the City is taking a step toward doing it.

“I think it’s totally appropriate to look into those matters and to share those with the citizens of this community,” Muskogee Mayor Patrick Cale said.

In the public meeting, Cale announced the City’s plans to ask the state auditor and inspector’s office to look into four development projects in the last decade that a citizen group brought to their attention.

Those include the Three Corners Development off Highway 62 and Highway 69, Project Sunshine, Shawnee Corridor, and the Downtown Revitalization Multi-Grant Program.

The audit is to make sure these projects were financed and paid for properly and to see if there were any conflicts of interest.

“It’s one of those trust and verify issues. I’m glad to see the City Council has finally seen it our way, but my question is why did it take so long,” said Mark Hughes, a Muskogee resident.

Hughes said if the City Council doesn’t vote for the resolution to get that forensic audit, then he and others will take matters into their own hands with a petition.

He said they will need over 2,00 signatures by July 22 to get the audit done.

Muskogee City Manager Mike Miller said he’s not expecting any surprises with the audit because he said everything has been done in the public.

“Everything that we do is very clear in public so we aren’t worried that there’s something in the past that is going to be worrisome,” Miller said.

They are scheduled to have a City Council meeting on Monday where councilors will decide whether or not to go forward and request the forensic audit.

However, many citizens are concerned about how long that will take before they vote on a multi-million dollar bond next month.

Muskogee has not passed a general obligation bond in more than 50 years.