Editorial: Police plans

City commissioners should take a frugal and targeted approach to funding new police facilities.

“I want to build a police facility that is good and has a benefit,” City Commissioner Terry Riordan said last week, “but hopefully it will cost less than $30 million.”

Lawrence taxpayers share that hope.

After years of discussion, city commissioners are seriously considering a November vote on a sales tax to fund construction of a new police headquarters building. The need for some improved police facilities seems clear, but how much the city should spend on those facilities and how it raises the money for the project deserve serious discussions before the city moves forward.

Police officials have said that the kind of headquarters the department needs could cost as much as $30 million, but commissioners, thankfully, are seeking a project with a lower price tag. As Riordan noted, the policy facility needs to be adequate, but, as with any tax-funded project, it shouldn’t be extravagant. The city should be looking at the most cost-effective facility and location that will meet police needs.

There’s no painless way to fund this facility. The city has estimated it would have to add 3 mills to the property tax levy for 20 years to pay for a $30 million headquarters, a prospect that has caused city commissioners to look more favorably at using a local sales tax to finance the project. One estimate prepared by city staff indicated a 0.2 percent sales tax would pay for a $30 million police facility in about 15 years. According to other estimates, a 0.5 percent tax would pay for the facility in about seven years, and a 1 percent tax would pay for it in about four years.

A sales tax, which would be paid by city visitors as well as residents, may be the preferred way to pay for the facility — with some caveats. First, the sales tax should be dedicated solely to building the police facility. There should be no consideration of padding the tax to help fund what Commissioner Jeremy Farmer is referring to as “community livability” issues such as sidewalks, trails and other amenities. Those items should be financed from the special sales tax streams the city already has for road improvements and recreation. Those funds already are committed for a number of years, so local residents may just have to wait for additional “livability” projects.

Second, there should be a specific sunset for any sales tax for the police headquarters. If the tax that is set will pay for the facility in four, seven or 15 years, the tax should be levied for four, seven or 15 years, period, not rolled over to pay for some other item on the city’s wish list after that.

Many Lawrence residents think city officials were remiss in not considering the full scope of city needs, including the police station, before committing to other large projects such as the new recreation center at Rock Chalk Park. If commissioners now conclude that police needs can’t be put off any longer, they should pursue those improvements with a frugal and narrowly focused plan.