Oklahoma City eyes '26 debt sales after successful $2.7B bond election

Oklahoma City is preparing bond issues for 2026 that will tap $2.7 billion of general obligation bond authorization approved by voters on Tuesday and help finance a basketball arena with debt backed by sales taxes.

The 11-part GO bond package for streets, parks, drainage, libraries, mass transit, and city facilities passed with 75.52% to 85% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board.

"The people of Oklahoma City are committed to investing in ourselves, and we have seen a return on that investment many times over," Mayor David Holt said in a statement.

The triple-A-rated city is aiming for a March competitive sale for about $240 million of GO bonds using voter-approved authorization from 2025 and 2017, according to Assistant City Manager Brent Bryant, who added the newly authorized debt, which does not require a property tax increase, will be sold over a 10-year period.

The sale of about $787 million of sales tax revenue bonds to help finance a 750,000 square-foot arena to replace Paycom Center, the home of the National Basketball Association's Oklahoma Thunder, will not take place until next year, he said.

"We're still in the design phase and working on contracting and stuff as [it] relates to the arena and utilizing cash on hand," Bryant said. "So, we're probably going to go out to the market sometime in the latter part of the first quarter of 2026 or the first part of the second quarter."

The bonds will be sold through the Oklahoma City Public Property Authority in a deal led by Goldman Sachs (GS).

The debt is backed by a six-year extension of a Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS 4) one-cent sales tax beyond its April 1, 2028, expiration that Oklahoma City voters overwhelmingly approved in December 2023 for the arena. The city has projected the tax will raise nearly $976.3 million during the six-year period, based on annual growth of 1.79%.

Oklahoma City is also contributing $78 million in MAPS 4 funds that had been allocated to the city-owned Paycom Center, while the Thunder, which has played there since 2008, is providing $50 million.