LawtonNot a ballot

How Lawton is run

Who runs Lawton, what it costs, and where your money goes

The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Lawton's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.

Who runs Lawton

Lawton has a council-manager government. The mayor chairs the City Council, which has eight members elected by ward, and the council approves ordinances, contracts and the annual budget. The council appoints the city manager, the chief administrative officer, as well as the city attorney, city clerk and municipal judge.

City of Lawton · Oct 11, 2026

What they are paid

City manager John Ratliff: base pay$227,1572025-12-02. Set by the Second Amendment, dated December 9, 2025, to his October 24, 2023 employment agreement, after a 3% raise effective December 2, 2025. City of Lawton · Dec 9, 2025
In the contract
  • One-time $16,500 performance bonus
  • 160 hours of vacation a year
  • 96 hours of sick leave
  • Exempt from the five-year service rule for cashing out vacation leave
A council memberNot confirmedFY2026-27. Ordinance 24-084 (December 2024) raised mayor and council pay by $5,000 a year. The FY2026-27 budget for the Mayor and Council division includes $102,500 in salaries and wages. City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026
The mayorNot confirmedFY2026-27. The FY2026-27 budget for the Mayor and Council division includes $102,500 in salaries and wages. City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026

Lawton city staff

838 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. Budgeted full-time positions. The schedule does not include part-time positions. City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026

The budget lists positions and pay grades by department. We found no list of individual employees' pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.

Is Lawton in the red?

Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.

General fund, FY2026-27$89.3MOut of $458M across all city funds, which includes utilities and other money that can only be spent on one thing. City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026
Savings shrank, FY2024-25 (audited)−$12.9MGeneral fund revenue $73.2M, spending $111M. General fund spending exceeded revenue by $37.4 million, including $26.1 million of capital outlay. Transfers in of $25.4 million and $5.8 million of new debt covered part of the gap, and fund balance fell $12.9 million. City of Lawton · Feb 4, 2026

The city's own outlook

The FY2026-27 budget projects the general fund balance will fall from $16,243,925 on July 1, 2026 to $941,680 on June 30, 2027. The city says it has used hiring and spending freezes to respond to the continued decline of unassigned fund balance. A separate emergency reserve fund is projected at $4,436,433. City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026

Savings against the city's own target

Unassigned general fund balance: $23.6M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: The city aims to follow GFOA guidelines: a minimum fund balance of 10% of operating expenditures, with 30% preferred. City of Lawton · Feb 4, 2026

Pension promises not yet funded$82.2MTotal net pension liability in the FY2025 audit: $41.8 million for the city's own Employee Retirement System, which was 59.04% funded and is closed to employees hired after June 30, 2017, plus the city's $32.3 million share of the firefighters plan and $8.2 million share of the police plan. (2025-06-30). City of Lawton · Feb 4, 2026
Debt owed$341MGovernmental: $104.7M (GO bonds $29.7M, revenue notes $72.8M, notes $2.2M). Business-type: $236.4M (notes $216.5M, Waurika contract $16.5M, revenue notes $3.5M). 2025-06-30. City of Lawton · Feb 4, 2026

Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.

Where the money comes from and goes

The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.

Comes from

  • 2.125% sales tax$31M · 35%
  • City sales tax$28.5M · 32%
  • Use tax$9.5M · 11%
  • Spending above revenue (covered by transfers and fund balance)$9.5M · 11%
  • Franchise and ordinance tax$3.2M · 4%
  • Fines and costs$1.7M · 2%
  • Other$6M · 7%

City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026

Goes to (FY2026-27)

  • Police$26M · 29%
  • Fire$18.1M · 20%
  • Equipment management$6.1M · 7%
  • City at large$5.1M · 6%
  • Park maintenance$3.5M · 4%
  • Streets and traffic control$3.4M · 4%
  • Lakes$3.2M · 4%
  • Other$23.9M · 27%

City of Lawton · Jun 12, 2026

Who provides your services

Not everything in Lawton is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.

Compared with similar cities

The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.

YukonOKBartlesvilleOKLawtonOKTulsaOK
Residents27,61538,27890,503416,209
Top administrator's base pay$202,000Not confirmed$227,157Not confirmed
Council member payNot confirmedNot confirmedNot confirmed$32,000
General fund per resident$1,399$1,113$987$1,069
Debt per resident$1,122$1,475$3,769$1,882
Unfunded pension per resident$739$606$909$877
City staff per 1,000 residents—10.59.310.4

Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).

What Lawton publishes

What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.

Questions to ask your council

  1. The FY2026-27 budget projects the general fund balance falling from $16,243,925 to $941,680 by June 30, 2027. How will the city get back to its own 10% minimum?
  2. In FY2024-25 the general fund spent $110.6 million against $73.2 million of revenue, including $26.1 million of capital outlay. How much of that spending was one-time?
  3. City debt reached about $341 million at June 30, 2025, mostly water and sewer loans. How much of the new water and sewer rate increase goes to repaying them?
  4. The council raised the city manager's salary to $227,156.80 in December 2025 and approved a one-time performance bonus. What goals were used to judge his performance?

The fiscal year starts July 1. The council reviews a preliminary budget at a budget workshop. After a public hearing on May 26, 2026, the council adopted the FY2026-27 budget by Resolution 26-139. State law requires adoption at least seven days before the fiscal year begins. See who is running for council

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