As the Nov. 4 election gets closer, Lawrence voters definitely are wanting to hear more about the pros and cons of a proposed 0.2 percent sales tax to pay for a nearly $28 million police headquarters.

Now, Lawrence Police Chief Tarik Khatib wishes voters would take time to see more of the issue. He said at a Thursday evening forum that he hopes more voters will tour the existing facilities, or at least watch the video tour that is on the city’s website.

“If you will see the facilities that your officers are being asked to work in, I think it creates a very compelling case that we have to address these needs,” Khatib said.

But seeing the needs may not be enough to convince some voters, said one member of the crowd of about 35 people at Thursday’s forum. The woman, who declined to give her name, said she was willing to spend the money to improve the police department’s facilities, but she was troubled by the city’s plan to pay $2.25 million for 47 acres of property near the Kansas Turnpike interchange on McDonald Drive. The city only needs about 15 acres for the police facility.

Khatib said he frequently does receive questions about the proposed land purchase. He said there is “no perfect site” for the facility, but he likes the easy access to Iowa Street and to Interstate 70 that the McDonald Drive site provides. The city is proposing to buy all 47 acres because its current owner, Hallmark Cards, won’t sell the city just 15 acres.

“If we think this is the best site and we think this is where we are hopefully going to house the police department for the next 40 or 50 years, I still think it is worth pursuing,” Khatib said.

Other members of the crowd expressed concern that the sales tax — 0.2 percent for a maximum of nine years — would put too much of a burden on low-income residents. Khatib and Mayor Mike Amyx both said they thought the sales tax option was the fairest funding mechanism because it would ensure that visitors to the community who purchase goods are helping pay for the tax.

The bulk of the police department’s staff currently is split between two facilities, a downtown Law Enforcement Center that houses the patrol division and a west Lawrence office building that houses detectives and the administrative functions of the department. Storage of evidence and other items takes place at four other locations throughout the community.

Khatib showed the audience a slideshow with pictures of outdated and undersized work areas. Plus, he threw in some personal observations, like how the lone male shower for the west Lawrence facility is simply tucked into the corner of a public bathroom, which has created some awkward moments, or how the water that comes out of the building’s pipes sometimes looks like weak coffee.

Some audience members said the condition of the facilities looked inadequate to them.

“They looked pretty rough to me,” said Joy Trollman.