Oklahoma City officials report MAPS 4 is underway with dozens of projects, collections to end in 2028

City officials told members of the Entrepreneurs' Organization on a virtual panel that the MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects) program remains the city’s principal multi-decade capital initiative and that MAPS 4 is actively moving from planning into construction.

David Todd, MAPS program manager for the City of Oklahoma City, summarized MAPS’ history and the MAPS 4 portfolio, saying MAPS was created as “a 1-cent sales tax for a defined duration” with citizen oversight. He said MAPS 4 — passed by voters in 2019 — was initially estimated at $978 million and now exceeds $1 billion when adjusted for cost changes and program amendments.

Todd said MAPS 4 is organized into 16 program areas that break down into roughly 95 projects: neighborhood-park renovations, four youth centers, multiple sidewalk and trail projects, mental-health and homelessness investments (crisis center, diversion hub, restoration center), an animal shelter under construction, Innovation District work, and the Civil Rights Center, among others. “There’s 95 different projects within MAPS 4,” Todd said.

On timing and finances, Todd said MAPS is run on a cash, pay-as-you-go basis and that collections end in 2028. He reported receipts are currently about 3.7% above projections and that the council reallocated an additional $100 million to the program after stronger-than-expected collections. Several projects are already complete or will start construction this year; others extend later in the decade with some schedules pushing toward the early 2030s as the city sequences cash flows.

Councilman Matt Hinkle, who represents Ward 5, credited MAPS with transformational change across downtown and neighborhoods and noted the animal-shelter project helped galvanize community support for the MAPS 4 slate. He urged residents to support local commerce as a way to sustain sales-tax revenue that underpins MAPS projects.

Officials emphasized program governance and oversight, and that MAPS-funded projects are distinct from other city, county or state capital efforts. Todd said excess collections and interest from earlier MAPS packages historically have remained within MAPS capital work and that some MAPS projects have relied on partner funding for operations once built.

The MAPS office provided a project-status update showing completed work (the fairgrounds coliseum), active construction (animal shelter, Palomar, diversion hub nearing opening), design packages under way (parks, youth centers), and significant public-transit and sidewalk investments. Todd said the city is aiming to accelerate schedules where feasible but still expects work to be staged through the remainder of the collections period.