Published: April 21, 2008 12:24 pm            

Woodward is rockin’, rollin’

City seeing improvements, tax benefits from oil boom

Woodward is a quiet, friendly town in western Oklahoma that has become a phenomenon in recent years due in large part to the impact of its burgeoning oil field.

“The oil field is most of what has made us grow so much. The last 10 years our sales taxes have doubled, and 2006 was our largest year,” said Woodward Mayor Bill Fanning.

Sales tax has increased 21.1 percent and rose 7.8 percent last year; however, Fanning thinks it should begin to level off because they are not seeing the huge increases this year. Last December the city of 13,000 nearly hit $1 million in sales tax in one month.

“We hit in the high $900,000. That’s huge for us,” Fanning said.

A recent report in the Daily Oklahoman listed Woodward as the fifth fastest-growing city in Oklahoma and the only growing city west of I-35. Stillwater was first, followed by Oklahoma City metro area, Durant, Tahlequah and Woodward, with Tulsa in sixth place.

Fanning thinks some of the things that have helped Woodward are the quality of life improvements the city has made. They are currently preparing for a $25 million improvement to Crystal Beach Park, the city’s main park. That will include remodeling the Crystal Beach stadium that involves enlarging the grandstand and putting a roof over the stadium to expand the type of events that can be held there. The park also will feature an aquatic center that will include a zero-entrance beach and lazy river.

“Right now during the week you can’t find a motel room in Woodward, so we have a LaQuinta Inn and a Hampton Inn under construction,” he said.

A few years ago the city installed seven miles of walking trail around the USDA Range Research station in Woodward, and Fanning said it is one of the most popular things they have done. Most of the improvements have been driven by the oil and gas industry in Woodward, where a number of service companies and several drilling companies operate.

“We don’t complain real loud about $3.50 gas. It’s driving our economy,” he said.

Most months in 2006 Woodward had the lowest unemployment rate in the state ranging from 2.4 percent to 2.8 percent.

There are a number of good paying jobs in Woodward. Fanning said there are 20-year-olds making $60,000 a year working in the oilfield. He said a $20-an-hour wage is good. They are forecasting job growth at 4.2 percent in 2008 because the economy is slowing a little. The oil and gas people in Woodward have been through boom and bust situations before and many remember the boom and bust period of the 1970s and 1980s. Fanning, a banker, said those companies are preparing better, keeping loans on shorter terms, building equity rather than borrowing all the time.

Some local companies also have been purchased by large companies, which has not moved jobs out of town, but made Woodward a branch office of those large companies.

Fanning recently looked at the 2007 sales tax statistics, and Woodward was the 22nd highest sales tax producer in Oklahoma. City officials realize they cannot continue to have huge increases in taxes and that it must level off.

“Thinks are rockin’ and rollin’ in Woodward,” he said.

City officials have used the additional sales tax to update equipment and have 200 employees at present. Fanning said they recently hired additional firefighters and police officers. Fanning said along with growth has come a slight increase in crime.

April 1 the city passed an increase in its hotel-motel tax, which is now 6 percent.

Fanning said Woodward’s biggest problem at the time is a shortage of housing. A nice home in the $200,000 range sells in less than a month. Some older homes that are over-priced are on the market for a while and there is not much rental property or apartments. To help alleviate that need the city recently spent $1.6 million running new sewer lines from Downs Ave. on the south side of town, further south to Hank’s Trail. Officials believe the most likely expansion will be to the south and are trying to get lines down so people can start housing additions. They hope to see apartments built as well.

“People come in every month who have lived here six months and they have just found a place to live and move their families down,” he said.

Sales taxes are good enough the city has done a lot of street repair and paving. Water tanks and wells have been rehabilitated and there are sufficient water rights remaining for many years. The city sewer plant capacity can still be expanded so that will not have to be dealt with for a few years.

The city has partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and tries to bring events into Crystal Beach stadium each month. Last year they held a bull riding event in June, the annual Elks Rodeo in July and a monster truck show in August that drew 6,800 people to the 4,800-capacity stadium. That is part of the reason the stadium is being remodeled along with a $6.7 million total rehabilitation of Fuller Ballpark adding new baseball and softball fields.

The ride will continue for a few more years, he said. Fanning said they have been able to progress because everyone in the community cooperates very well.

“The Industrial Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce and the city are all on the same page and it helps the city a lot,” he said.