Oklahoma

Decision instrument

A state debt needs a law that names the purpose, a tax that pays the interest and the principal within 25 years, and a majority of the votes cast for and against it.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Oklahoma Constitution, Article 10, Section 25. On final passage the question entered in the journal is: “Shall this bill pass, and ought the same to receive the sanction of the people?” The section excepts the debts named in Sections 23 and 24. A statute, 62 O.S. § 34.200, says the state shall not become indebted so that annual debt-service payments from the General Revenue Fund exceed 5% of average general-fund revenue. The master-lease program is left out of that test.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? The State Treasurer’s debt report for 2025 is the record used here. It is required by 62 O.S. § 695.7(D) and § 34.200-1. County dollar rows are not attached. The state’s annual financial report is named in that debt study and is not the source of the figures below.

Debt limit

A county, city, or school district may not go past this year’s income without three-fifths of the votes. With that vote, the debt stops at 5% of taxable value. A city or a school district may go to 10%.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Constitution, Article 10, Section 26. The value is the last assessment for state and county purposes. The extra room for a school district is for sites, buildings, and equipment. The vote itself is treated as proof of the need unless a statute says otherwise. The same three-fifths vote lets a city or town go to 10%. The government has to levy an annual tax that pays the interest and retires the principal within 25 years.

Conflict rule

An officer who takes any interest or profit from public money in the officer’s hands commits a felony. A state officer’s material financial interest starts at $20,000 in a private business, or 5% of a public company.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? Constitution, Article 10, Section 11, and Ethics Commission Rule 4.7. The rule applies when the officer knows a particular matter is likely to have a direct and predictable effect on that interest, or on a family member’s interest. A mutual fund or a retirement account the officer does not control is not a material financial interest. The rule does not use the local 10% test.

Geography

Seventy-seven counties.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? Census county codes 40001 through 40153. County seats are not in the debt report, so they are not filled in. Cities, school districts, and authorities also borrow. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

General obligation bonds outstanding: $0. The last of them was paid in July 2018.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? State Treasurer, State Debt: Overview and Affordability, 2025. Voters approved a $350 million authorization in 1992. The Oklahoma Building Bonds Commission made the final payment in July 2018. The report says the state has never had to use its own funds, or issue general obligation bonds, under the programs that let certain authorities extend the state’s full faith and credit. What is outstanding instead, as of December 31, 2025, is $1,495,665,602 of Capitol Improvement Authority lease-revenue bonds and federal transportation loans, plus $470,830,000 of master-lease bonds. Those are not general obligations.

Who pays the coupon

In fiscal 2026, debt service counted against the 5% cap is $157.293 million. The cap is $418.174 million.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? The report does not split that payment into principal and interest. The five-year average of certified general revenue through fiscal 2025 is $8,363,476,862. Five percent of that is $418,173,843. Debt service subject to the limit is printed at $157,292,597. The difference is $260,881,246. The table is titled fiscal 2026, but the capacity line is labeled fiscal 2025. The three printed numbers fit the fiscal 2026 limit, and the labels are not forced into one year. For fiscal 2025 the same report prints a cap of $393.5 million, debt service of $180.5 million, and about $213.0 million of room. The master lease is excluded from the cap. Its payments are supported first by the colleges’ own revenue.

Other obligors

Revenue bonds of authorities and universities: $11.468 billion. They are not a debt of the state. Do not add them to the zero.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? The same report, as of December 31, 2025, except the Housing Finance Agency, which is as of September 30, 2025. The turnpike is $3.045 billion. The Water Resources Board is $2.853 billion. Housing is $1.959 billion. The Grand River Dam Authority is $1.122 billion. The University of Oklahoma is $999 million, its health sciences center $195 million, and Oklahoma State $661 million. The Municipal Power Authority is $634 million. The student-loan line is zero. Calendar 2025 issuance by these entities was nearly $3.4 billion, led by a $1.3 billion turnpike issue. None of that is a general obligation of the state.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.