From street improvements to sales taxes to updates from various partners, members of the Ardmore City Commission on Tuesday were able to ask questions and learn about the city’s financial footing ahead of budget season as the fiscal year winds down.

Lake Murray loomed in the background as commissioners met with city officials and other guests for nearly six hours at the Lake Murray Lodge. While the detailed look at the state of the city touched on every aspect of local government, a lot of conversation revolved around issues brought up by residents for years in various forms: street conditions and drainage issues.

“What I hear a lot from citizens is ‘I don’t see anything getting done,’ and we have to spread it out. So let’s spread it out in different areas in Ardmore,” said Commissioner John Credle, Jr.

City Manager Kevin Boatright said that a recent master plan that had input from residents revealed that streets and drainage continue to be at the forefront of issues for residents, but the roughly $3.8 million currently in the city’s street fund just isn’t enough to address all the issues.

“So now that we’ve had a critical analysis by the experts about where are the worst streets, where is the worst flooding, we’re going to have to do something about it. Unfortunately, specifically in the streets (fund), that amount of money it today’s dollars just doesn’t get you much street work,” Boatright told commissioners.

One idea floated to bolster the street fund is a 1-cent sales tax earmarked for that fund for about a decade. Boatright said that the city could put the proposal up to voters at the end of the summer and begin collecting it in 2026. Estimates suggest that proposed tax could raise an additional $72 million for road and drainage projects.

Another option the city is considering is the purchase of a piece of equipment that could lay asphalt on short stretches of road. The city had previously been given a demonstration of an asphalt zipper on P Street Northwest between 8th Street Northwest and 9th Street Northwest.

Other items discussed by the commission during their retreat was employee health benefits. Officials discussed ways to reduce prescription drug costs incurred by the city, with pharmaceuticals taking up about 62% of the city’s employee insurance costs. While city employees may see higher deductibles or copays in the future, city leaders said that efforts would be to keep the city self-insured.

The commission on Tuesday also heard updates from Murray State College’s president and the CEO of the Ardmore Chamber of Commerce. MSC President Dr. Tim Faltyn gave commissioners a preview of the school’s new nursing facility that recently reached a fundraising goal, while chamber CEO and Ardmore Development Authority CEO Bill Murphy updated commissioners on the production wind-down at Michelin along with a recent land purchase by the DOT Foods facility.

Murphy also updated the commission on projects at the Ardmore Airpark and a proposed hydrogen plant, but told commissioners that a close eye would have to be kept on the state of federal funds going to local projects, specifically cost-sharing projects with the Federal Aviation Administration at the air park.