This page is provided by "Citizens For Collinsville" ... a grass roots committee formed to inform the citizens of the facts and advantages of purchasing our local gas utility.

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Ted Wright -- last update 7/2/2005 (7/7 & 7/11 & 7/14 & 7/18 & 7/26 & 7/27 & 7/28 & 7/29) (GasCitizensFor.html) www.cvilleok.com
Copyright 2005 -- Collinsville, Oklahoma
Paid Political Advertisement -- Trent Rogers -- Citizens For Collinsville

Citizens Groups Supports City's Purchase of Gas Franchise
Vote "YES" August 9th
July-August 2005 -- Paid Advertisement
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Citizens of Collinsville:

A grass roots committee is being formed to educate and inform citizens of Collinsville of the facts and advantages there are in purchasing our local gas utility. This will also clarify any misinformation that may be distributed by the existing gas utility.

Of Course ONG is opposed to losing a profitable system and we should expect their spin machine to keep churning. The more they hype - the more voters know Collinsville should own the gas utility. Our forefathers placed the purchase option within the gas franchise agreement so the citizens could stop the harvesting of local money by unresponsive corporate giants. (It is funny how ONG has never had a visible community presence until this issue arose.) However, they have only owned the system for the last four years so who knows how little they truly case about Collinsville.

Here are just a few of the many facts every Collinsville voter should know:

Fact One: All gas systems in Oklahoma are regulated and Collinsville would exceed all safety standards in the operation of this facility. Collinsville operates electric and water utilities at high standards with good service so how could anyone honestly think City Workers would do less with the gas utility. Our workers are residents and care about their friends and families in Collinsville.

Fact Two: The City of Collinsville is more concerned with building and maintaining quality infrastructure in Collinsville than any group of out-of-town self-serving stockholders.

Fact Three: Collinsville can finance additional capital investments of the gas utility from revenue bonds that do not raise rates or taxes. In fact, Collinsville could roll back rates to save citizens money.

Fact Four: While ONG may or may not have employees able to respond in an emergency, so will the City of Collinsville, and our people won't have to drive three or four hours to get to town.

In careful review of the proposal details and after long conversations with City Officials and other concerned citizens, we believe there is no downside, only tremendous advantage in the near future for Collinsville voters to approve the purchase of our local gas utility.

For more information, comments or to participate please call 371-9887.

Citizens For Collinsville

Trent A. Rogers
Chairman

Related News:

Press Release -- For Immediate Release 10AM, Thursday, June 30, 2005 -- Collinsville, Oklahoma

On Tuesday, June 28, 2005, the Collinsville Downtown Inc. Board of Directors unanimously voted to support the August 9 Special Election and the purchase of the ONG gas distribution system.

Collinsville Downtown Inc. is the organization recognized by the State of Oklahoma and the National Main Street Center in Washington, D.C. to carry out the revitalization of Collinsville's Historic Main Street. Board Members of Downtown Inc. expressed overwhelming support for a recent decision by the City Commissioners to bring the purchase option contained in the 1980-2005 ONG Franchise Agreement to a vote of the people on August 9.

Board President Mary Risley commented that

Ms. Risley and the Board stated their belief that the revenue generated by the gas system should be kept at home to benefit Collinsville residents through improved infrastructure and capital improvements.

For further information contact Mary Risley at 371-5530.

Collinsville Downtown Inc.
P.O. Box 91
Collinsville, OK 74021
(918) 371-5530

Growing Collinsville
On August 9th the citizens of Collinsville will vote on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase the local gas system. For the future of Collinsville please consider these important questions.

If Collinsville owns the Collinsville gas distribution system:

Will gas bills be higher?
No.
If the City of Collinsville owns and operates the gas system, services can be provided more cost efficiently than through an inverstor-owned utility service like ONG. Although the cost of gass supply is related to supply abd demand, the cost of services can be controlled and the City will have the ability to reduce the cost of those services to citizens with the city limits.

Will the system operate safely?
Yes.
The City of Collinsville fire, EMS, and police have always been the first responders for any type of emergency. The city has already trained two employees to qualify them for certification to safely and efficiently operate the gas system. ONG does not have an office in Collinsville, nor do they have any employees present in the City. If the City owns and operates the gas service, the traditional first responders and our trained and certified employees will assure that the gas system is operated as safely as possible.

Do Other cities operate gas systems?
Yes.
Over 50 Oklahoma municipalities own and operate their own gas systems. They have saved their citizens money, improved gas service, and used gas revenue to keep taxes low. Many of these have consulted with Collinsville officials to provide technical expertise, intergovernmental operating agreements, and tremendous encouragement for Collinsville's gas system acquisition.

Can Collinsville afford the purchase?
Yes.
The City of Collinsville has consulted with financial advisors and has numerous options available. Low interest rates plus Collinsville's strong financial position will enable Collinsville to attract favorable financial options and not result in increased taxation.

Why Now ?
It is now or never.
The existing gas franchise has been in effect for 25 years with an option for the City to purchase the system. ONG does not want to sell or include an option again because the system is profitable which is why ONG purchased the franchise from another operator only four years ago.

VOTE YES ON AUGUST 9th

Citizens For Collinsville

For more information call Nancy at 694-7388 or Trent at 371-9887.

The Collinsville Chamber of Commerce, Collinsville Downtown Inc. (Main Street) and the Collinsville School Board have all endorsed the City's purchase of the local gas franchise.

Press Release -- Received July 7, 2005
Resolution of the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce

WHEREAS the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce is an association of local businesses; and,
WHEREAS the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce has, as it's primary purpose, the promotion, development and enhancement of commerce and economic vitality of the business interests in and of the City of Collinsville; and,
WHEREAS the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce works cooperatively with local, county, and state government as well as other civic organizations towards community economic growth and development; and,
WHEREAS the City of Collinsville has successfully operated electric, water, and sewer utilities; and,
WHEREAS the Board of City Commissioners has evaluated the natural gas distribution system within the corporate limits of the City of Collinsville and determined that the purchase and operation of the gas distribution system has potential economic benefit to the citizens and businesses within the City; and,
WHEREAS the Board of City Commissioners of Collinsville has voted to exercse the purchase option contained within the 1980 ONG Gas Franchise Agreement; and,
WHEREAS the Citizens of the City of Collinsville are given the right to vote for the utility franchise agreements or to exercise the option to purchase the system; and,
WHEREAS the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has reviewed and discussed the potential long-term advantages of the purchase and operation of the gas distribution system; and,
WHEREAS the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce believes the purchase of the gas distribution system can be efficiently operated by the City of Collinsville and would provide multiple benefits to the city of Collinsville as well as its businesses and citizens in whole.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE COLLINSVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SUPPORTS AND ENDORSES THE PURCHASE OF THE GAS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FROM OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS (ONG).

UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY THE COLLINSVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN ATTENDANCE THIS 30TH DAY OF JUNE 2005.

James Dugger
President, Collinsville Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 245, Collinsville, OK (918) 371-4703

The answer is simple to me. Allow the citizens the benefits of better Fire, Police, and other public services instead of providing a privately owned company the profits from our gas utility. I have no desire to continue paying the Wall Street profiteers dividends that could be put to good use in my own city. We now have the opportunity to purchase the gas franchise.

I personally, had never seen an ONG service truck in our town until the Mayor and City Council began exploring this purchase!

Furthermore, our city presently maintains its own electric and water services at what I believe to be fair and competitive rates. I also appreciate that our maintenance employees for these utilities live in or close to our city and don't have to travel from Tulsa and beyond to respond to problems when they arise.

From the revenue collected on utility services, cities are able to hire local workers and provide community infrastructure.

In Oklahoma, cities such as ours are allowed to collect sales taxes, but Collinsville cannot compete in the sales tax race like our neighbors to the south in Owasso. They are taking from Tulsa as they draw increasing sales taxes but that is not an option for Collinsville. Providing gas service and keeping the profits here has no downside I can see and great promise for helping to grow our city without increasing gas rates or taxes.

Dawn L. Rowe -- (Received 7/7/2005)

July 11: The Collinsville School Board voted to support the City of Collinsville's purchase of the local gas system

July 15, 2005: City operated electric utility recognized for "outstanding distribution construction standards, excellent customer service, and very low margin of customer service disturbances." (Related Story)
July 25th Letter From Mayor Sallee
I want to first lay out the facts and explain what is on the ballot for you to vote on and why the City Commission made the decision to bring this important decision to the citizens of Collinsville.

Hopefully, the information in this letter will answer most of the questions that you might have about the issue. After laying out the facts and the city commission’s reasoning to you, I want you to know that I will be available at all times to answer any questions you may still have about the issue. If I fail to fully explain anything or don’t do so with the clarity that you deserve as citizens of Collinsville, please ask me to clarify so that you too will understand just how important this issue is to the future of our city. In fact, this issue is so important I can virtually guarantee that without a positive vote by the citizens of Collinsville on August 9th, many of the improvements that we all want to see in Collinsville to protect and enhance our quality of life cannot occur because of a lack of financial resources available to the city.

Many citizens of Collinsville are unaware of just how little of the city’s budget that pays for police and fire protection, road maintenance, park maintenance and other services to the citizens comes from sales taxes. The largest towns and cities in the state are able to fund a great deal of their city services from sales taxes. Small and medium size communities like Collinsville do not generate enough sales tax to provide vital services to their citizens. One way to overcome this disadvantage, and the way many smaller cities and towns in Oklahoma have stayed strong and continue to provide services to their citizens is by having municipal utilities. A majority provide municipal water and sewer services directly to their citizens. Some, like Collinsville, provide electrical utilities to their citizens directly and over 60 Oklahoma cities and towns provide natural gas service as a city owned municipal utility.

The reason many cities and towns choose to maintain municipal utilities is that the profits from the system stay in their own town and are available to help pay for other vital services like police and fire protection, libraries, parks and good streets. I think most people would agree that helping fund those services by making their normal utility payments is better than paying for those services with new taxes or going without those services. Without those services, a city cannot hope to thrive. Property values will fall, and the schools will suffer from a decline in ad valorem revenue that will lead to our children and grandchildren getting a second class education. In other words, a community will not make it long term without the ability to provide the services necessary for a strong community.

Without our municipally owned electric service, the City of Collinsville could not provide basic services to our citizens. If the city relied entirely upon the sales taxes generated within our city, we would be trying to perform all the functions of city government for 320,000 dollars this fiscal year. But even with a city owned electric utility, there are many services that could be delivered much better to the citizens of Collinsville. For instance many of our city streets are in need of serious reconstruction. There are so many issues that could improve our quality of life in Collinsville if the City had the financial resources to undertake them. That brings us to the unique opportunity that citizens can vote for on August 9th.

Twenty five years ago, the City of Collinsville granted a franchise to Kansas Gas Company to provide natural gas services for the city. In return for giving Kansas Gas Company the opportunity to operate a natural gas system in Collinsville and make profits for their shareholders for 25 years, the franchise agreement granted the city the option to purchase the system at the end of the agreement under incredibly good terms. Normally if you were to try to buy a profitable and solid business you would have to pay for all of the businesses assets. In the case of a natural gas utility company, you would expect to pay for the value of the pipes in the ground and the meters at the customer locations and the good will value of the company and value of the proven revenue stream and projected profits as well as value of the growth potential of the utility. But like I stated earlier, the city was given the right to purchase the system at incredibly good terms. The franchise agreement gives the city the right to purchase the system by only paying for the depreciated value of the real assets in the ground; that is, the only thing the City has to pay to take over this successful business that has recently been improved and has a great revenue stream and solid growth potential is pay the depreciated value of the parts of the system like the pipe in the ground and the meters. Even though it sounds too good to be true, it is true and it is right there in the language of the franchise agreement. Every banker that has looked at the business model that we had professionals prepare for the city has made the same comment. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Citizens of Collinsville to take advantage of to ensure a strong future for our city.

For the 25 years of the franchise agreement, all the profits of the system have gone to the stockholders of the private companies that have operated the system. It’s time that those profits stay here in Collinsville so that they can be used to help provide vital services and needed capital improvements for our city and our citizens. This is a golden opportunity that is only available to us by virtue of the terms agreed upon 25 years ago and will disappear forever if we let the opportunity pass us by on August 9th.

Even with the favorable terms of the purchase, the citizens of Collinsville have a right to know that the City can operate the system in a safe and professional manner. After all, the City has never operated a natural gas utility. But the City does have a track record on delivering vital services, including electric, water and sewer services in which every citizen in this community can take pride.

Just this last week alone, the City’s electric utility was recognized as the most outstanding Municipal Electric System of Oklahoma for the year. Their safety record shows that they have gone 3 full years without a single employee losing a single day of work due to injury. The average response and repair time for customers with electrical outages was an hour and fifteen minutes. The fact is that a city owned natural gas company will also be able to respond more quickly than the current provider because the system will be based out of Collinsville instead of out of Bartlesville. Also this last week the city owned and operated emergency services operations were honored with an award as the 2005 Advanced EMS Service of the Year from the Oklahoma Emergency Medical Technicians Association. Both of these awards demonstrate that the City of Collinsville takes safety and professionalism very serious. As elected officials, our commitment to doing our best for Collinsville is based on the simple fact that this is our home. We live here and we want the best for our families, our friends and our city. Privately owned utilities are required to want the best for their shareholders. With the City, you are the shareholders and doing right by you is our responsibility.

The city currently has employees that are trained to do many of the functions necessary to operate a gas utility company. The equipment required is generally the same as that required for the operation of the city’s water and sewer department. Based on the experience of other cities in the state that operate similar sized systems, it is likely that at most the new utility will require only adding three new employees and you can rest assured that the city will hire new employees with natural gas expertise. That brings me to the big scare tactic that some of the nay-sayers have thrown about. They say that the city would be less capable of responding in case a much larger number of personnel were required to deal with a system problem than ONG. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The same model that serves our electric system will serve our natural gas system. Many other cities and towns in northeastern Oklahoma have already promised Collinsville that they will sign inter-local agreements guaranteeing assistance in the event that more personnel and equipment are necessary to deal with any large problem in the system. The response time under inter-local agreements will be just as fast or faster than a big company bringing in extra help from some other part of the state.

The next issue that I want to resolve deals with what it will cost the citizens of Collinsville to buy this system from ONG. Other than continuing to pay for the natural gas that you use at home or work, you won’t be asked to pay anything. So much for the people that want to hold Collinsville down with their statement that we are asking you for a blank check. In fact when it comes to your gas bill I believe that it will cost you less than you currently pay ONG. Neither ONG nor the City can guarantee you what the price of natural gas will be next week, let alone next year. The City has the advantage of being able to shop around for the best price just like any other entity does and at worst, the price of gas to you the customers, will be the same. However, if you look at your gas bill, you will notice a number of other charges and fees added on to the ONG bill. We feel certain that a municipally owned utility can avoid charging as many fees as a private company whose first responsibility is to maximize the profit for the shareholders. Yes, they are regulated by the Corporation Commission and the City would not be under Corporation Commission regulation. But I ask you, how much control do you as an individual voter exercise over the Corporation Commission and how much control do you as an individual voter exercise over your locally elected city commission. Your City Commissioners live in Collinsville and like you, will be customers of whoever operates the natural gas utility in town. I for one believe that rates will be kept lower if the local citizens have more control over the elected officials responsible for setting rates. It just makes good common sense to me and I bet it does to you as well.

Some of you may have noticed that our Collinsville School Board voted unanimously last week to urge citizens to vote for the referendum on August 9th. If they had not looked at the whole picture, I’m sure that our opponents would be screaming that the schools will lose a bunch of ad valorem revenue if this proposal passes on the 9th. It is true that if the issue passes, our school district will no longer receive about 10,900 dollars in ad valorem revenues from ONG. That pales in comparison to the positive impact that the school board feels a city owned natural gas utility can have on their ad valorem revenue district wide by making improvements to the city that will encourage growth city wide. Just like the City Commissioners and myself, the school board understands that this is a unique opportunity to improve the quality of life for all of the residents of our city. That is a goal worth fighting for and that is the goal that motivated your City Commission to place this issue on the ballot. Collinsville’s future will be in the hands of the voters on August 9th. We need your vote. We need your help in making sure that our reasoning is understood by everyone in town. Please understand the importance of this vote and I hope that you will join with us in ensuring a good future for Collinsville.

Sincerely,

Stan Sallee, Mayor

City of Collinsville

Letter from Mayors Added Below 7/26 & 7/27 & 7/29
July 27th Letter From
Former Mayor Carlburg
Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Open letter to all registered voters in Collinsville:

I was asked to review the proposal to terminate the 25 year franchise period with Oklahoma Natural Gas and the City of Collinsville. This I have done. I reviewed the study submitted by GA Engineering Inc. of Dumas, Tx. This engineering company specializes in evaluation of all types of energy systems, which include appraisals of natural gas distribution systems, no different than that within the Collinsville service area.

The study submitted, was very conservative. The value placed on the Collinsville system is well above the tax evaluation at the Tulsa County Courthouse. I then took the appraisals’ numbers and used a financial evaluation system within Microsoft’s Excel program. This system evaluates and analyzes the effects of Cost of purchasing, Salary, Administration and benefit costs. Also debt payback in years, and capital improvements of the system.

Conservatively, if all revenue was earmarked for total service of purchasing and rapid payoff, my study shows a payback of 5.25 years of borrowed money. The payback period used only money remaining after paying necessary salaries and administration, benefits and annual capital improvements. I used a 6% interest rate for 10 years to estimate the repayment schedule.

If necessary, the excess monthly money could be used for other emergency capital i.e. fire trucks, bucket trucks, and major items required to keep the infrastructure intact, if so desired and if the revenue from the electrical department and sales tax needs some help.

We have also done a study of the last 5 years of sales tax revenue. Sales tax is in a steady decline coming from present city sources. The sales tax coming from ONG would not change when Collinsville takes over – BUT – Collinsville will be receiving the major profits from gas sales rather than going to large corporations like ONG. Also I’m sure most of you are aware that ONG has asked for an average of $10 per month rate increase for residential meters. Collinsville cannot control the “cost of gas” but can control the costs passed on to you that you see on your ONG bill – just look at it!

Gas systems are very low maintenance. When we get storms, they don’t blow down like electrical lines.

Folks, this is an opportunity that Collinsville must vote for. If it were not a very valuable business segment, ONG would not be spending large amounts public relations money, to New York folks to keep their “cash cow”!

I would encourage everyone to go to the polls and vote “YES” on August 9th!

Very Sincerely,

Gerald Carlburg, past Mayor and Commissioner of Collinsville

Letter To Senior Citizens
July 28, 2005

On August 9th, we have a great one-time opportunity to generate money for our city. As your President, I advise and recommend all Senior Citizens to vote for the city to acquire the natural gas system from ONG. This purchase WILL NOT - I REPEAT --

  • WILL NOT Increase your taxes
  • WILL NOT Cost you 1 penny
  • WILL NOT Cause more safety threats

But, IT WILL Give the City more Funds to:

  • Repair streets
  • Enhance water & electrical service
  • Develop goods & services currently non-existant due to limited funds

PLEASE VOTE YES!!!!!!

Bill Thomas 7/28/05
President , Senior Citizens Club

Former Mayors Urge "Yes" Vote
For a July 27th local view commissioned for Tusa viewers: see TulsaToday.com