Miller Asks For Appropriation Cut

Treasurer’s Office

For a second consecutive year, State Treasurer Ken Miller is asking the Legislature to cut appropriations for his office. And for the second year in a row, he is the only agency head to do so.

Miller said his request for a five-percent budget cut is made possible by focusing office operations on core treasury functions. He also requested and was granted a five-percent appropriations reduction last year.

“We are reaping the rewards of becoming more efficient and tightly focused on our core mission with the result being less dependence on taxpayer money,” he said. “This year’s request for a $178,000 cut in appropriations is the continued benefit of outsourcing non-core jobs and taking advantage of advances in technology. In short, we have increased our output while decreasing our costs.”

Prior to the last recession, the treasurer’s office had 72 employees working in three locations in Oklahoma City, including two leased offices. Now the staff is 40 percent smaller and all treasury employees work in one location in the State Capitol Building after closing external offices.

Miller’s two voluntary requests for appropriations cuts come after reductions of 17 percent during the most recent recession.

The treasurer’s office manages banking and treasury services for some $23 billion deposited each year, the daily investment of more than $6 billion, and the return of unclaimed property to Oklahomans, which has set record high amounts during each of the past three years.