Oklahoma Policy Institute: Oklahomans pay some of the lowest taxes in the nation

The math doesn't say Oklahoma is one of the highest taxed states; it says the opposite. When it comes to politics, everyone has an opinion, but when it comes to cold hard numbers, it's very straightforward.

"If you look at the data, Oklahomans are among the lowest taxed states. We're somewhere between 43rd and 48th," said David Blatt, executive director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute crunches numbers and presents facts based on math so that lawmakers and voters can make informed decisions.

"I think we have to dispel the notion that we are heavily taxed here. If you believe that, then it becomes harder to believe that we need to be looking at additional revenue to pay our teachers, to be able to support our healthcare and social services," said Blatt.

Looking at the data on their website, Oklahomans pay approximately $1,110 dollars less in taxes per year than the average American. When it comes to sales tax, that's where we're a little bit different. Oklahoma is actually fifteenth in the nation in terms of how high our sales taxes are. Still, if you look at the big picture, we're paying about 24 percent less than the rest of the country when it comes to taxes.

"What we've seen over time is that the decline in the public services that Oklahomans expect in our schools, our healthcare systems, and our infrastructure, the decline has gotten so bad that the pressure on legislators of both parties to say we've got to do something about that. This week, they finally approved a package that is actually fairly modest increases," said Blatt.

Still, Blatt says we retain our status as a low tax state, even with the increases.