POST-ELECTION DEEP DIVE • AUGUST 25, 2026
By Enid Public Record • Published August 8, 2026 • Updated August 27, 2026
Unofficial Oklahoma State Election Board results show Enid voters approved the hotel-tax proposition 3,197 to 2,697, or 54.24% to 45.76%, with all 23 election-day precincts reporting. The election is over; the public-record work now shifts to implementation, spending and accountability.[36]
Independent: Enid Public Record is an independent public-information project serving Enid, Oklahoma. It is not affiliated with the City of Enid or with a campaign supporting or opposing this measure.
ELECTION RESULT • UNOFFICIAL
Assuming certification without a result-changing contest or recount, Ordinance No. 2026-12 takes effect as approved by voters: Enid's hotel-room excise tax increases from 8% to 12% beginning October 1, 2026; 60% of total proceeds may be used by the City for qualifying convention/tourism-development purposes, and 40% shall be used by the Garfield County Fairgrounds Trust Authority for the Chisholm Trail Expo Center.[31] [36]
01 • QUICK ANSWER
The measure approved in the reported August 25 result increases Enid's hotel and lodging tax from 8% to 12%, with the higher rate scheduled to begin October 1, 2026 if the election result is certified. The City's pre-election estimate projected annual hotel-tax collections rising from about $1.4 million to $2.1 million, or roughly $700,000 more per year.[1] [31] [36]
The distribution would also change. The City describes the existing split as 62.5% City / 37.5% Garfield County/Fairgrounds. The approved proposition changes that to 60% City / 40% Garfield County Fairgrounds Trust Authority. Because the overall tax rate would be higher, the City's published estimate shows both sides receiving more dollars even though the City's percentage share would fall slightly.[1] [2]
The proposed increase itself adds $4 on a $100 room and $6 on a $150 room. The 17.1% and 21.1% figures combine Enid's 8%/12% lodging tax with the current 9.1% general sales-tax rate.
The City's pre-election information page said the added revenue could support the Stride Bank Center, the Chisholm Trail Expo Center, sports and tourism initiatives, downtown parks, the NJCAA World Series, and groundwork for a possible multi-sports complex.[1]
OFFICIAL BALLOT • VERIFIED
An official Oklahoma State Election Board sample ballot for the August 25, 2026 City of Enid election identifies Ordinance No. 2026-12. It asked voters whether to increase the excise tax on hotel-room rents from 8% to 12%, with collection at the new rate beginning October 1, 2026 if approved.[2]
CITY OF ENID • 60%
The ballot says the City share “may be used” for projects, items, costs and/or expenses that encourage, promote and/or foster convention and/or tourism development, including operating, renovating, managing and furnishing the Stride Bank Center.[2]
GARFIELD COUNTY • 40%
The ballot says the County share “shall be used” by the Garfield County Fairgrounds Trust Authority to operate, manage, renovate and furnish the Chisholm Trail Expo Center.[2]
THE BALLOT DOES APPROVE
The YES vote approved the 12% lodging-tax rate beginning October 1, 2026, allocate 60% of proceeds to the City for qualifying convention/tourism-development purposes, and require 40% to be used by the Garfield County Fairgrounds Trust Authority for operation, management, renovation and furnishing of the Chisholm Trail Expo Center.
THE BALLOT DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY APPROVE
The proposition does not approve a particular multi-sports complex, establish its construction budget, assign a fixed percentage of the City's 60% share to that project, or establish project-by-project percentages within the City's share. Those decisions require later City action within the authority provided by the measure.
Why the distinction matters: City information materials identify several possible uses of additional revenue. Those examples help explain the City's case for the proposal, but they are not the same thing as individual projects or dollar amounts required by the ballot.
Record note: The wording above is transcribed from the official sample ballot obtained through the Oklahoma State Election Board’s OK Voter Portal. Enid Public Record has also located the published legal-notice text of Ordinance No. 2026-12, which states that it was passed and approved June 2, 2026. The ordinance confirms the 8%→12% change, the 60% City / 40% County use-of-funds language and the October 1 effective date subject to voter approval.[31]
02 • FOLLOW THE MONEY
A four-percentage-point increase in Enid's local hotel/lodging tax—a 50% increase in that specific tax rate.
The City's proposal page estimates roughly $700,000 more in annual collections.
The City's estimate for its 60% share under the proposed structure.
The City's estimate for Garfield County's 40% share.
The City's published estimates are internally consistent. About $1.4 million at an 8% rate and $2.1 million at a 12% rate both imply roughly $17.5 million in taxable lodging receipts.
Enid’s current general sales-tax rate is 9.1%: 4.5% State of Oklahoma, 4.25% City of Enid and 0.35% Garfield County. Adding the separate Enid lodging tax produces the following simplified comparison before any hotel-specific fees or charges:[3]
| Tax component | Today | At the 12% rate |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma state sales tax (4.5%) | $4.50 | $4.50 |
| Enid city sales tax (4.25%) | $4.25 | $4.25 |
| Garfield County sales tax (0.35%) | $0.35 | $0.35 |
| Enid hotel/lodging tax | $8.00 (8%) | $12.00 (12%) |
| Total tax | $17.10 (17.1%) | $21.10 (21.1%) |
| $100 room + listed taxes | $117.10 | $121.10 |
Tax-source note: The 9.1% general sales-tax breakdown comes from the City of Enid Accounting page. The 8%/12% lodging-tax figures come from the City’s hotel-tax page and the official sample ballot. This illustration does not add a separate federal sales/lodging tax line and does not include property-specific fees.
CURRENT — USING CITY'S ~$1.4M BASE
At the current 62.5% / 37.5% split, those are the approximate shares of a $1.4 million total.
PROPOSED — USING CITY'S ~$2.1M PROJECTION
The City's dollars rise about $385K; the County's about $315K. The County's percentage share also rises from 37.5% to 40%.
On August 21, 2026, the Garfield County Fairgrounds Trust Authority / Chisholm Trail Expo Center responded to Enid Public Record's open-records request with five fiscal years of cash-basis “Motel Tax Collections” reports, FY2024–FY2026 financial statements, a facility-needs list, rental rates and a packet labeled “ARRPA Funded Expenditures.”[34] [35]
| Fiscal year | GCFTA-reported motel-tax receipts | Year-over-year |
|---|---|---|
| FY 2021–22 | $468,247.32 | — |
| FY 2022–23 | $410,747.63 | −12.3% |
| FY 2023–24 | $380,620.34 | −7.3% |
| FY 2024–25 | $485,740.04 | +27.6% |
| FY 2025–26 | $553,439.16 | +13.9% |
Under the current structure, the County receives 37.5% of total Enid hotel-tax proceeds—the equivalent of three percentage points of the current 8% tax. If the FY2025–26 County receipts of $553,439.16 are treated as that 37.5% share, they mathematically imply about $1.476 million in total 8% hotel-tax collections and about $18.45 million in taxable lodging receipts. That is somewhat higher than the approximately $1.4 million / $17.5 million base used in the City's public estimate.[1] [34]
The County's cash-basis payment reports provide a second direct dataset. Because the County currently receives 37.5% of total hotel-tax proceeds, its annual receipts can be used to calculate an implied citywide total for comparison with the City's audited Fund 60 tax series. The two datasets are close in some years but materially different in others:
| Fiscal year | County receipts | Implied total at 37.5% | City audit series | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2021–22 | $468,247 | $1,248,660 | $1,045,628 | +$203,032 |
| FY 2022–23 | $410,748 | $1,095,327 | $1,108,975 | −$13,648 |
| FY 2023–24 | $380,620 | $1,014,988 | $1,041,565 | −$26,577 |
| FY 2024–25 | $485,740 | $1,295,307 | $1,518,117 | −$222,810 |
The City's FY2025 audited financial statements report $1,518,117 in “Taxes” in the Enid Event Center and Convention Hall fund and also publish a 10-year business-type tax series with that same FY2025 figure. City budgets identify Hotel Tax / Lodging Tax as Fund 60's tax-revenue source. That remains the City's audited long-run series, but the newly obtained County cash-receipt reports above show why it should not be treated as a simple one-for-one proxy for County payments without reconciliation.[4] [34]
Accounting note: The audit’s fund-level schedule labels the FY2025 amount “Taxes,” while its 10-year statistical table labels the business-type series “Property taxes.” The City’s Fund 60 budgets identify account 3330 as Hotel Tax / Lodging Tax. We preserve that distinction rather than silently changing the audit’s terminology.
Year-end Smith Travel Research data reported by Visit Enid show that 2025 was Enid's strongest hotel year in more than a decade on several measures. Occupancy reached 54.9%, average daily rate was $81.51, RevPAR was $45.56, and reported hotel revenue totaled $22.44 million. Occupancy was the highest since 2019, while total hotel revenue was the highest since 2014.[19]
Using the reported 2025 Enid hotel revenue of approximately $22.44 million and an average daily rate of $81.51, the market sold roughly 275,000 occupied room-nights during the year. Using the reported 54.9% occupancy rate, those figures imply a market inventory of roughly 1,370 hotel rooms. These are Enid Public Record calculations from the reported lodging-market figures, not City tax records.
Important limitation: lodging-market revenue reported by STR/Visit Enid is not automatically identical to taxable receipts inside the City of Enid. Geographic coverage, exemptions and taxable categories can differ. The City has been asked for the worksheet supporting its taxable-revenue projection.
The City budget uses several hotel-tax-related figures that look similar but mean different things. Putting them in one table without explaining the accounting made the numbers harder to understand than they needed to be.
What the City budget expected to collect during that fiscal year. It is an estimate, not the final amount received.
The budgeted Garfield County share. In the years reviewed, it equals exactly 37.5% of that year’s hotel-tax forecast and supports the Chisholm Trail Expo Center under the current arrangement.
A separate professional-services expenditure inside Fund 60. It is not the Garfield County share and it is not the City’s entire 62.5% share.
For completed fiscal years where the adopted budget and the FY2025 audit can be lined up, the difference is clear:
| Fiscal year | Budget forecast | Audited tax revenue | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2021–22 | $1,200,000 | $1,045,628 | $154,372 below (−12.9%) |
| FY 2022–23 | $1,200,000 | $1,108,975 | $91,025 below (−7.6%) |
| FY 2023–24 | $1,100,000 | $1,041,565 | $58,435 below (−5.3%) |
| FY 2024–25 | $950,000 | $1,518,117 | $568,117 above (+59.8%) |
Budget forecasts come from City of Enid annual budgets. Audited figures come from the FY2025 audit’s 10-year business-type tax series and the Enid Event Center and Convention Hall fund schedule. Percent differences are calculated from the published figures.
Under the current arrangement, Garfield County receives 37.5% of Enid’s hotel-tax revenue to support the Chisholm Trail Expo Center. In every budget reviewed, the budgeted Garfield County amount equals 37.5% of that year’s hotel-tax revenue forecast:
| Fiscal year | Hotel-tax forecast | Garfield County share | Budgeted Garfield County amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2022–23 | $1,200,000 | 37.5% | $450,000 |
| FY 2023–24 | $1,100,000 | 37.5% | $412,500 |
| FY 2024–25 | $950,000 | 37.5% | $356,250 |
| FY 2025–26 | $1,000,000 | 37.5% | $375,000 |
| FY 2026–27 | $1,150,000 | 37.5% | $431,250 |
The City’s current public information page describes the existing distribution as 62.5% City / 37.5% County. The proposed distribution is 60% City / 40% County.
The ECVB / Visit Enid amount appears on the expenditure side of Fund 60 under Professional Services. It is a budgeted service/marketing expenditure, not a fixed percentage of hotel-tax collections.
Correction from our earlier version: the FY2023–24 City budget shows $449,000 for ECVB / Visit Enid. An earlier Enid Public Record table incorrectly showed $410,000.
This is the part the old table failed to explain. Fund 60 is not funded by hotel tax alone. For FY2025–26, the budget lists $1.0 million in hotel tax, about $2.598 million in EECCH rental revenue, $5,000 in interest, and a $995,835 transfer from the Enid Municipal Authority, for total Fund 60 revenue of about $4.599 million.[9]
On the expenditure side, the same fund pays Garfield County’s lodging-tax share, Visit Enid, insurance, event-center operations, and capital items. The published budget does not provide a dollar-for-dollar tracing schedule that says which specific expense was paid by each specific hotel-tax dollar.
One City payment record also shows a $91,792.26 hotel-tax payment to the Chisholm Trail Expo Center for May 2025, providing a concrete example of the current City-to-County lodging-tax arrangement in operation.[13]
03 • HOW WE GOT HERE
Ordinance No. 2026-12 recites that Enid voters originally approved a 5% hotel tax in 1981 on hotel-occupancy receipts to encourage, promote and foster convention and tourism development through operation of a convention center. A 2002 Journal Record report provides additional contemporaneous historical context. Enid Public Record is still seeking the original 1981 ballot/election record.[31] [17]
Chisholm Trail Expo Center manager Steve Barnes sought a share of the City's hotel-motel tax as the County-owned facility faced an operating shortage. City Manager Bill Gamble publicly suggested increasing the hotel-motel tax and using the additional revenue for the fairgrounds.[17]
Ordinance No. 2026-12 recites that Enid voters approved an increase from 5% to 8% in 2002 for the purpose of allocating the additional three percentage points to the Garfield County Fairgrounds for operating, managing, renovating and furnishing the Chisholm Trail Expo Center. The current municipal code also cites Ordinance 2002-17, passed July 2, 2002, in the hotel-tax levy history.[31] [16]
Reporting on the Chisholm Trail Expo Center described its operating money as coming from facility rentals and Enid's hotel-motel tax. The Expo Center itself had originally been built with a one-cent County sales tax and opened debt-free.[18]
The official February 2013 Parks Master Plan says “the need for a large centralized sports complex was expressed” and notes that a Big League Dreams-style development option had been investigated. The plan says the issue emerged from preliminary meetings with City staff, park users and user groups, or from the planning team’s park observations.[20]
In a 2024 retrospective, Visit Enid Director Rob Houston wrote that he traveled to Foley, Alabama in 2018 to tour its sports complex as part of an Enid First initiative to study successful programs Enid might emulate. This documents Enid’s sports-tourism benchmarking, but it is a 2024 account of a 2018 trip rather than a contemporaneous 2018 project authorization.[22]
The City’s 2019 Annual Report documents separate sports-facility investments that year, including a Crosslin Park parking lot to support softball-field expansion and continued work on a new soccer complex. These projects show continued investment in sports facilities, but they do not establish the origin of the later multi-sport complex proposal.[21]
The City’s BidNet solicitation archive lists M-2508A “ENID MULTI-SPORT COMPLEX” as published July 9, 2024 and closed July 30. On August 1, Visit Enid reported that the City had issued an RFP for concepts for a new youth sports complex focused mainly, but not exclusively, on baseball and softball; at that point the location and number of fields were still undetermined. The same article said a future bond issue was expected to go to voters to help pay for the complex.[23] [22]
A City of Enid Sports Coordinator/Pool Manager posting says the position’s purpose includes the “development of new youth sports complex” and assigns work on long-range Parks Master Plan goals, sports-facility development and grant opportunities.[24]
The City held a public open house and survey as part of a new Multi-Sport Complex Master Plan. The planning effort therefore predates the 2026 hotel-tax campaign.[25]
Garfield County commissioners pursued an October 14, 2025 election for a separate sales tax intended to fund operation, maintenance and marketing of the Chisholm Trail Expo Center. The election order was later rescinded, and the proposition did not appear on the October 14 ballot. Enid Public Record is continuing to review the County record surrounding that decision.[26]
Audited tax revenue tied to the Enid Event Center and Convention Hall fund reached $1.518 million, the highest figure in the City's 10-year business-type tax series reviewed. Smith Travel Research data reported by Visit Enid also showed multi-year highs in occupancy, room rates, RevPAR and total hotel revenue.[4] [19]
The City published a proposal to raise the local lodging tax from 8% to 12%, change the City/County distribution from 62.5/37.5 to 60/40, and use additional visitor-funded revenue for facilities, events, tourism, sports and community amenities.[1]
The published ordinance states that the Mayor and Board of Commissioners passed and approved Ordinance No. 2026-12 on June 2. Its recitals also place the current proposal in the 1981 and 2002 hotel-tax history, while its operative sections provide the proposed 12% rate, 60% City / 40% County use-of-funds structure and an effective date on or after October 1, 2026 subject to voter approval.[31]
A City resolution approved August 18 authorizes an application to the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department for a National Park Service Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant. The resolution estimates the proposed multi-sport complex at approximately $60 million and seeks $15 million in assistance. The resolution says the City would be responsible for matching awarded funds plus additional expenses outside potential grant funds and match.[32] [33]
Unofficial Oklahoma State Election Board results show the proposition ahead 3,197 YES to 2,697 NO, or 54.24% to 45.76%, with all 23 election-day precincts reporting. The State Election Board labels the results unofficial and unverified until certification.[36]
The State Election Board says provisional-ballot results are not included until after 5 p.m. August 28 and county election boards generally certify results no earlier than that time unless a recount or contest is filed. EPR will update the record when certification is available.[36]
Ordinance No. 2026-12 and the official ballot provide for collection at the 12% rate beginning October 1, 2026, subject to voter approval. Assuming certification without a result-changing contest or recount, that becomes the implementation date to track.[2] [31]
04 • WHAT IS PROMISED — AND WHAT THE BALLOT SAYS
CITY-PUBLISHED EXAMPLES
WHAT THE OFFICIAL BALLOT ACTUALLY ALLOCATES
The ballot text is verified, and the published Ordinance No. 2026-12 has now been reviewed. Its published text uses the same broad City / specific County structure and does not create a project-by-project allocation for the City’s 60% share.[31]
05 • WHAT THE MONEY IS CONNECTED TO
STRIDE BANK CENTER
The FY2025 City audit reports roughly $1.055 million in event-center program revenue against about $5.088 million in cost of services. City budgets show the EECCH fund also receives hotel-tax revenue, operating/rental revenue and transfers.[4]
The venue is professionally managed by Oak View Group/OVG. Enid Public Record has requested the current management agreement and related financial records so readers can evaluate management terms, incentives, operating responsibilities and capital obligations from the underlying documents.[8]
CHISHOLM TRAIL EXPO CENTER
The FY2025–26 cash-basis statement reports $1.251 million in income, $1.485 million in expenses and a $233,371.49 deficit. Motel-tax collections of $553,439.16 were the largest income line—about 44.2% of all reported income.[34]
A separate needs sheet identifies about $935,000 in three specifically priced HVAC/chiller/water-treatment items, plus an unpriced wash-rack project.[34]
MULTI-SPORT COMPLEX
An official City Parks Master Plan documented demand for a large centralized sports complex in 2013. Later records show sports-tourism benchmarking in 2018, sports-facility expansion in 2019, a formal multi-sport solicitation in July 2024, a City job posting tied to development of a new youth sports complex in November 2024, and a formal master-planning/public-input process in 2025.
The 2026 hotel-tax proposal did not create Enid’s sports-complex idea. The need for a centralized sports complex appears in an official City planning document as early as 2013. Later records show sports-tourism benchmarking, sports-facility investment, a formal 2024 solicitation, creation of a City position partly responsible for developing a new youth sports complex, and a formal 2025 master-planning process. What the record does not prove is that one unchanged project proceeded continuously from 2013 through 2026 or that any one individual originated it.
The record is now more specific on cost, but not yet on the full financing plan. An August 18, 2026 City resolution estimates the proposed complex at approximately $60 million and authorizes an application for $15 million through the National Park Service’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program. Enid Public Record has not located a committed site, a final operating pro forma, a complete financing package, a construction schedule or a legally dedicated hotel-tax allocation for the complex.[32]
CITY / COUNTY SPLIT
Using the City's published figures, the City's annual share rises from about $875,000 to $1.26 million—roughly $385,000 more—while the County rises from about $525,000 to $840,000—roughly $315,000 more.
The County receives the larger percentage increase in dollars because the overall tax rises 50% and its allocation share also increases from 37.5% to 40%.
The two earlier cash-basis years need context before being compared with FY2025–26. FY2024–25 shows a $201,477.80 surplus but includes a $500,000 County Appropriation – ARRPA. FY2023–24 shows a $150,895.41 surplus but includes $363,321.71 in insurance proceeds. Because the records also show ARPA-funded expenditures and do not pair every insurance receipt with its related loss or repair cost, those one-time inflows should not be treated as recurring operating revenue—or simply subtracted by themselves to manufacture an “operating deficit.”[34] [35]
The responsive facility-needs sheet estimates approximately $200,000 for pavilion meeting-room HVAC, $35,000 for water softeners to protect ice machines, water heaters and the chiller, and approximately $700,000 for a replacement York chiller. It also identifies pavilion wash racks as another need but gives no cost. The sheet calls this only a “small list” of important projects and states that the Expo Center has not operated with enough funds to properly save for the pavilion HVAC work.[34]
The FY2024–25 statement records a $500,000 “County Appropriation – ARRPA”. The separate packet supplied as “ARRPA Funded Expenditures” contains useful supporting records, but it is not a line-by-line ledger or remaining-balance report. It includes duplicate invoice pages, an estimate followed by a final invoice, and one handwritten work sheet whose stated job amount and payment notation do not match.[35]
| Responsive ARPA document | What it shows | How EPR treats it |
|---|---|---|
| ACCO invoices | Invoices #26712 ($70,242), #26726 ($999), #27397 ($71,312) and #27384 ($1,351.50) | #26712 and #26726 appear again later in the packet; duplicates are not counted twice. |
| Werx IT security/network work | $18,543 estimate; later invoice #9553 totals $20,128, with $14,043 in credits/payments and a $6,085 balance | The estimate is not added to the final invoice as a separate expenditure. |
| Concrete around five light poles | $17,730 invoice | Single supporting invoice. |
| Parking-lot striping | $14,650 invoice | Single supporting invoice. |
| Camper hookups / sewer-water work | Sheet states “Bid job” $9,000; handwritten payment notation appears to show $10,632.86 | Amount needs clarification before being included in a reconciled total. |
Historical reporting in 2011 described the County-owned fairgrounds complex as hosting more than 500 events annually. In 2025, Garfield County commissioners pursued a separate sales-tax election for Expo Center operation, maintenance and marketing. The election order was later rescinded, and the proposition did not reach the October 14 ballot.[18] The new County records add a current benchmark: GCFTA reported $553,439.16 in motel-tax receipts for FY2025–26, compared with the roughly $525,000 current County share implied by the City's public $1.4 million shorthand.[1] [34]
06 • SUPPORTERS' CASE & RECORD CHECK
Supported with an important qualification. The tax is imposed on lodging stays, so residents do not pay it simply by living in Enid. Residents who rent lodging in Enid would pay it, and businesses or organizations paying for rooms may also bear the cost.[1] [30]
We found no 30-day exemption in the current Enid hotel-tax code. Enid Code § 2-5B-2 defines hotel, occupancy and rent without a 30-day cutoff; § 2-5B-4 taxes rent from every hotel-room occupancy except where rent is less than $3 per day; and § 2-5B-5 lists government exemptions but does not list long-term guests or “permanent residents.” Based on the current published City Code, Enid Public Record cannot support the claim that the City hotel tax automatically ends after 30 days.[30]
This is the City's projection. The arithmetic follows from the City's published $1.4 million current and $2.1 million proposed estimates. The underlying forecasting worksheet has been requested.
Not established by the records reviewed. The ballot and published Ordinance No. 2026-12 do not specifically allocate the City’s 60% share to the complex. Separately, the August 18 grant resolution estimates the project at about $60 million and seeks $15 million in federal ORLP assistance, but it does not identify hotel-tax revenue as the required nonfederal match or as the source for the remaining project cost.[31] [32]
Plausible and consistent with destination-marketing practice, but outcomes are not guaranteed. The City cites sports-tourism competition and says added resources would help Enid bid for events. The relevant public-policy question is what goals will be measured after the money is spent.
True if the City's revenue estimate is achieved. The City projects approximately $1.26 million for the City and $840,000 for the County under a 60/40 split.
07 • HOW OTHER CITIES DID IT
These comparisons do not mean Enid should copy another city. They show different ways communities have written purpose restrictions, allocation formulas and review requirements into lodging-tax measures.
Oklahoma City's official material told voters in advance how the additional revenue would be divided and specified that the Fairgrounds and Convention Center shares were for improvements, not operating costs. Its City Council introduced the ordinance, held a public hearing, and then set the election.[15]
Stillwater's 2022 voter-approved visitor tax provides another comparison. Its ordinance allocated 70% to long-range destination marketing/management and 30% to visitor-development amenities, required annual City Council review of expenditures, and tied changes in the tax rate or authorized expenditures to voter approval.[27]
Oklahoma City also published its post-increase combined hotel-tax burden as 17.875%. Using current Enid sales-tax and lodging-tax rates, Enid's approximate combined burden is 17.1% today and 21.1% under the proposal. That comparison is descriptive; whether it affects competitiveness depends on Enid's market and traveler behavior.
SPORTS COMPLEX • DOCUMENT CHECK
The City’s Parks Master Plan explicitly records the expressed need for a large centralized sports complex and says a Big League Dreams-style option had been investigated.
The City’s bid archive lists M-2508A “ENID MULTI-SPORT COMPLEX,” published July 9, 2024. Visit Enid separately reported that the RFP sought concepts for a new youth sports complex.
The City publicly announced development of a new Multi-Sport Complex Master Plan and held a May 2025 public-input process.
The August 18 City resolution estimates the proposed complex at approximately $60 million and authorizes an application for $15 million in ORLP assistance. It does not itself establish the remaining funding sources.
The records reviewed so far show the broader idea appearing in City planning by 2013 and becoming more specific over time. We have not located a primary record establishing that any one individual originated the current proposal.
08 • WHAT IS ACTUALLY COMMITTED?
With the official sample ballot now in hand, we can identify what voters are expressly being asked to approve—and distinguish that from additional projects the City has discussed publicly.
| Item | What the official sample ballot establishes | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 12% rate | Expressly increases the hotel-room excise tax from 8% to 12%. | Official ballot |
| Effective date | New rate is to be collected beginning October 1, 2026, if approved. | Official ballot |
| 60% City / 40% County | The overall division of total proceeds is expressly stated. | Official ballot |
| City 60% | May be used for projects, items, costs and/or expenses that encourage, promote and/or foster convention and/or tourism development, including operating, renovating, managing and furnishing Stride Bank Center. | Broad ballot authority |
| County 40% | Shall be used by the Garfield County Fairgrounds Trust Authority to operate, manage, renovate and furnish the Chisholm Trail Expo Center. | Specific ballot use |
| Multi-Sport Complex / downtown parks / NJCAA | These examples appear in City public information but are not individually allocated in the ballot or published Ordinance No. 2026-12. The August 18 sports-complex grant resolution is a separate City action. | Not specifically allocated by hotel-tax measure |
| Oversight / performance reporting | No hotel-tax-specific board or mandatory performance report is stated in the ballot or the published ordinance text. | Not stated in measure |
| Sunset / reauthorization | No sunset date or voter-reauthorization requirement appears in the ballot or published ordinance text. | Not stated in measure |
| Debt/bond pledge authority | Neither the ballot nor the published ordinance text expressly states bond-pledge authority. | Financing-law review still needed |
09 • LONG-TERM AUTHORITY & ACCOUNTABILITY
The published ordinance also contains no sunset date or mandatory voter-reauthorization provision. We have not located a hotel-tax-specific oversight board or mandatory performance-report provision in the ballot or published ordinance text.
Enid already uses explicit oversight for another voter-approved revenue stream: the Kaw Lake project has a funding oversight committee and annual reporting structure. The official hotel-tax sample ballot does not state a comparable hotel-tax-specific oversight board, mandatory performance report, sunset date or voter reauthorization requirement.[28]
The official sample ballot remains the controlling record of what voters see. The published Ordinance No. 2026-12 adds the governing ordinance text now available to the public record; related agreements, implementation decisions and future financing documents may still add details not contained in either document.
POST-ELECTION • WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The next phase is implementation. EPR will preserve the pre-election record and track the decisions that turn the ballot's broad authority into actual budgets, transfers, projects and contracts.
10 • POST-ELECTION ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS
11 • SOURCE LIBRARY
Primary sources come first. Numbered citations throughout this page link to the matching source card below. Promotional or campaign material may document claims, but it is not treated as the legal record.
Current/proposed rates, City projections, City/County split, stated uses, election timing and FAQ.
Open City source ↗Official sample ballot identifying Ordinance No. 2026-12 and stating the 8%→12% rate, October 1 effective date, 60% City language and 40% Expo Center requirement. Use the official Voter Portal to view the sample ballot for your precinct.
Open Oklahoma Voter Portal ↗Official City source for Enid’s current 9.1% combined general sales-tax rate used in the room-tax comparison.
Open City accounting source ↗Fund-level and 10-year audit schedules used to compare Fund 60 tax revenue with adopted hotel-tax budget forecasts.
Open audit PDF ↗Source for the $1.2 million FY2021–22 hotel-tax budget forecast used in the budget-versus-audit comparison.
Open budget PDF ↗Shows the $1.2 million hotel-tax forecast, $450,000 budgeted Garfield County share and $350,000 ECVB / Visit Enid line.
Open budget PDF ↗Shows the $1.1 million hotel-tax forecast, $412,500 budgeted Garfield County share and corrected $449,000 ECVB / Visit Enid line.
Open budget PDF ↗Official venue page identifying OVG360, a division of Oak View Group, as the venue-management company.
Open management source ↗EECCH lodging-tax revenue, budgeted Garfield County lodging-tax share and ECVB/Visit Enid line.
Open budget PDF ↗Shows the final $1.15 million hotel-tax forecast, $431,250 budgeted Garfield County share and $475,000 ECVB / Visit Enid line.
Open budget PDF ↗Shows $950,000 budgeted hotel-tax revenue and the related Garfield County share and Visit Enid appropriation.
Open budget PDF ↗Agendas, packets and minutes used to reconstruct the proposal's formal history.
Open meeting portal ↗City claims register showing a $91,792.26 hotel-tax payment to the Chisholm Trail Expo Center.
Open City record ↗Confirms Hotel Tax as Title 2, Chapter 5B of Enid's Finance and Taxation code.
Open code record ↗Post-election City source confirming voter approval, the 9.25% rate and the 75% / 13.3% / 6.7% / 5% allocation of added revenue.
Open OKC source ↗Current code cites Ordinance 2002-17, passed July 2, 2002, as the ordinance underlying the hotel-tax levy.
Open code section ↗A statewide news roundup containing a contemporaneous Enid section on the Expo funding dispute, the reported 1981 hotel-tax origin and the City Manager's suggestion of an increase for the fairgrounds.
Open historical report ↗Describes the County sales-tax financing used to build the Expo Center and its later reliance on rentals plus Enid hotel-motel tax for operations.
Open report ↗Published report of Smith Travel Research figures cited by Visit Enid: 54.9% occupancy, $81.51 ADR, $45.56 RevPAR and $22.44 million in 2025 hotel revenue.
Open hotel-market report ↗Official City plan stating that the need for a large centralized sports complex was expressed and that a Big League Dreams-style option had been investigated.
Open Parks Master Plan PDF ↗Documents Crosslin softball-support improvements and progress on the new soccer complex.
Open 2019 Annual Report PDF ↗Director Rob Houston documents the 2018 Foley study trip, the 2024 City RFP for a youth sports-complex concept, unresolved site/field count at that time, and anticipated future bond-vote financing.
Open Visit Enid article ↗City solicitation archive listing the ENID MULTI-SPORT COMPLEX opportunity as published July 9, 2024 and closed July 30, 2024.
Open City BidNet archive ↗Official City recruitment posting identifying development of a new youth sports complex as part of the position’s purpose and duties.
Open City job posting ↗Official City notice confirming development of a new Multi-Sport Complex Master Plan and public-input process.
Open City source ↗County minutes documenting action concerning the proposed October 14, 2025 Expo Center sales-tax election. The election order was later rescinded, and the proposition did not appear on the October 14 ballot.
Open County minutes PDF ↗Source note: Garfield County’s August 25, 2025 minutes contain internally inconsistent wording for the proposed tax rate, so Enid Public Record uses those minutes only for the election date, ten-year duration and stated Expo Center purposes unless a controlling resolution or ballot document resolves the rate.
Example of a voter-approved measure with a 70/30 allocation formula and annual review requirements.
Open Stillwater source ↗Official City description of a voter-approved revenue oversight structure requiring compliance review, written recommendations and an annual progress report.
Open City oversight source ↗The County/Expo response was received August 21 and is published below as Sources 34–35. Still requested or not located in that response: complete ARPA ledger/balance, 2025 Expo sales-tax analysis/rescission records, 2026 County hotel-tax analysis, and additional City records including the revenue worksheet, City–County implementation records, OVG agreement and related financing documents.
Follow-up records still pendingEnid Code §§ 2-5B-2, 2-5B-4 and 2-5B-5 define hotel occupancy and rent, impose the City hotel tax on rent from every occupancy, and list the exemptions. The published code does not state a 30-day or permanent-resident exemption.
§ 2-5B-2 Definitions ↗ · § 2-5B-4 Tax levy ↗ · § 2-5B-5 Exemptions ↗
Published June 6, 2026. States that Ordinance No. 2026-12 was passed and approved June 2; recites the 1981 5% origin and 2002 increase to 8%; and contains the proposed 12% rate, 60% City / 40% County use-of-funds language and voter-dependent October 1 effective date.
Open published ordinance ↗City resolution from the August 18 regular meeting authorizing an ORLP grant application, estimating the proposed multi-sport complex at approximately $60 million and requesting $15 million in assistance. The resolution states the City would be responsible for matching awarded funds plus additional expenses outside potential grant funds and match.
Open Aug. 18 City meeting record ↗Official federal program page confirming ORLP is nationally competitive, reimburses up to 50% of project costs, requires at least 50% nonfederal matching funds, and carries a perpetuity requirement for assisted public outdoor-recreation property.
Open National Park Service source ↗13-page responsive packet containing the Expo's facility-needs list, standard rental rates, FY2024–FY2026 balance sheets/income statements and motel-tax collection reports for FY2021–22 through FY2025–26. Published by EPR in the form received.
Open County response PDF ↗14-page packet labeled “ARRPA FUNDED EXPENDITURES,” including invoices, an estimate/final invoice pair, duplicate invoice pages and a handwritten work sheet. EPR does not treat the visible pages as a reconciled spending ledger without follow-up.
Open County ARPA packet PDF ↗The State Election Board results page showed 23 of 23 election-day precincts reporting: YES 3,197 (54.24%) and NO 2,697 (45.76%), 5,894 total votes. The Board states August 25 results are unofficial and unverified until certification and notes provisional ballots are not included until after 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28.
Open State Election Board results notice ↗ · View EPR result snapshot ↗
BOTTOM LINE
Unofficial State Election Board results show the proposition passed 3,197 to 2,697, 54.24% to 45.76%, with all 23 election-day precincts reporting. Assuming certification, the 12% rate begins October 1 and the 60% City / 40% County structure becomes the operating framework. The August 18 sports-complex resolution separately places that proposed project at approximately $60 million and authorizes a $15 million federal grant application without establishing the remaining funding sources. The August 21 County response adds something the public record previously lacked: five years of actual Expo hotel-tax receipts, recent cash-basis financial statements and a written facility-needs list. Those records show $553,439.16 in FY2025–26 motel-tax receipts, a $233,371.49 FY2025–26 cash-basis deficit and roughly $935,000 in three specifically priced facility needs. They also expose two items that still need reconciliation rather than assumption: the County receipt series does not match the City's audit series exactly, and the $500,000 ARPA response is not a complete spending ledger. The next priorities are certification, October 1 implementation, actual collections, those reconciliations, the City's revenue worksheet, the sports-complex financing plan and the remaining City/County implementation records.[36] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]
MORE ENID PUBLIC RECORD
Browse Enid's Water Story and future EPR investigations from the Stories index.
Browse all stories