Oklahoma City residents will vote March 4 on whether to levy a one-cent sales tax to pay for improvements at Ford Center in hopes of luring an NBA team, the City Council decided Wednesday.

The vote will take place about six weeks before NBA owners meet to vote on an application by the Seattle SuperSonics to relocate to Oklahoma City.

The tax would last for 15 months, starting on Jan. 1, 2009, the day after a current one-cent sales tax used to fund school improvements expires and would generate an estimated $121.6 million. It would also pay for an NBA practice facility.

But the practice facility and other improvements planned specifically for the NBA presence will not be built if a team does not relocate to the city. In that event, the tax would be shortened to 12 months and would raise about $97 million.

Mayor Mick Cornett characterized the election as a referendum on the NBA in Oklahoma City.

"I think people want it for this city," Cornett said after the council's unanimous vote to schedule the election. An NBA team would increase tourism in the city and have a positive economic impact, Cornett said.