On Nov. 4, Lawrence voters will decide the fate of a proposed sales tax to fund a new police headquarters. Here are the answers to several questions surrounding the issue.

Q: What would the new police headquarters contain?

A: The primary purpose of the project would be to bring the police force into a single building. Currently, the patrol division is in the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center downtown. Detectives and administrators are in the Investigations and Training Center near Bob Billings Parkway and Wakarusa Drive. Four other buildings across the city house evidence, records, equipment storage, parking control, animal control and other functions. Under the proposed plan, the city would vacate those buildings and would move all personnel, equipment, records and evidence into a single, new building.

Plans call for the main building to be about 63,000 square feet. In addition, an underground parking garage for police vehicles would add 15,620 square feet, a belowground firing range for training purposes would add 3,979 square feet, and an outbuilding for vehicle storage and other large pieces of evidence would add 4,006 square feet. In total, the city is proposing to build 86,031 square feet of space.

Q: How much would it cost?

A: It depends on what you include in the costs, but the number we report is $27.95 million. That includes the cost to construct the building and the amount needed to purchase the land. City officials often have used a “total project cost” of $25.7 million, but that figure does not include the land costs.

Q: What’s wrong with the current police facilities?

A: Police Chief Tarik Khatib says many of the buildings are outdated, undersized, in need of significant maintenance and, in some cases, weren’t designed to serve police functions. The city says it’s difficult to add more officers to the force due to space constraints. Khatib says the department loses valuable time by having the force stationed in multiple locations. The city estimates the department’s officers and staff drive about 2,300 miles per month among the various facilities. Khatib often notes that police officers and detectives would be able to collaborate and communicate better if they were located in a single building, and the end result would be a more effective police force.

Q: Where would the new headquarters be built?

A: The city wants to buy 47 acres at the southeast corner of the Kansas Turnpike interchange on McDonald Drive across the street from the Hallmark Cards production plant. The city plans to use about 15 acres for the police building. The land would be purchased only if the sales tax passes.

Q: Why is the city buying so much ground?

A: Hallmark Cards owns the property. The company declined to sell the city only 15 acres.

Q: Is the city proposing to sell or give away some of the excess property?

A: City commissioners have discussed selling and donating portions of the property for other uses, but have not formalized any agreements. The city has expressed an interest in donating about 10 acres to the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence to build a teen center. Commissioners stopped short of formalizing an agreement to donate the property after members of the public objected, saying such an agreement would be premature. They accused commissioners of trying to influence voters by bringing the popular Boys & Girls Club into the police issue.

The city also has discussed selling five acres to Lawrence schools for a maintenance facility, but an agreement and purchase price haven’t been determined. The city has discussed setting aside five acres to replace the small Woody Park, just north of Lawrence Memorial Hospital. If the park were relocated, the city could the sell the current Woody Park to LMH to use for parking. The city also has expressed an interest in talking to a private businessman who has an interest in building a “family fun center.” That project could include miniature golf, electric go karts, batting cages, a clubhouse and a paintball course, the proposed developer, Glen Lemesany, has told the city. The city has said it may have 10 acres it could sell to the development, but has not reached any agreement to do so.

Q: Did the city consider other locations? Why did the city choose this one?

A: The city received information about more than a dozen potential sites, but ultimately chose the Hallmark site from a list of five finalists. Other sites considered were: city-owned property at Wakarusa and Overland Drive, behind the Sixth Street Wal-Mart; city-owned property in Lawrence VenturePark, the business park across the highway from the Douglas County Jail; privately owned property in the Fairfield Farms subdivision, which is near the Douglas County Jail; and privately owned property just west of 31st and Louisiana streets, which would have access along the new South Lawrence Trafficway.

Commissioners selected the Hallmark site because they said it was the best of the available locations. The police chief also has endorsed the site. He said he likes that it is centrally located from an east-west standpoint. He also likes that it provides easy access to Interstate 70, Iowa Street and North Lawrence. Commissioners have said they also like that the site will provide for an attractive building at one of the major gateways into the community.

Q: How will this project be funded?

A: Voters are being asked to approve a 0.2 percent sales tax that will fund the project. Technically, city officials would take out a $24.2 million bond to fund the construction of the police facility, and then would use the proceeds of the new sales tax to pay off the bond.

Q:Why $24.2 million? I thought it was going to cost $25.7 million to build the center.

A: The city already has set aside $1.5 million to fund the project.

Q: Will the sales tax ever go away?

A: The sales tax automatically expires after nine years. The only way it could be extended is through another citywide election. The sales tax could expire in fewer than nine years if it generates more revenue than expected. The ballot language is written so that the tax will end in nine years or whenever the police bond is paid off, whichever comes first.

Q: What happens if the sales tax doesn’t generate as much money as planned?

A: Commissioners would have to find additional funding to make the estimated $2.8 million per year bond payment. The ballot language does not allow the sales tax to be extended beyond nine years, even if sales tax collections are lower than expected. Commissioners likely would either make budget cuts, raise property taxes or dip into the city’s reserve funds to make up any shortfall. City officials, however, have expressed optimism that the sales tax will meet projections.

The city is projecting that sales tax collections will grow by 2 percent per year during the nine-year period. That’s in line with the city’s historic growth rate. Sales tax collections in seven of the past 10 years have grown by more than 2 percent. More recently, though, collections have been more erratic. During the past five years, collections have failed to reach the 2 percent mark twice.

Q: What will Lawrence’s sales tax rate be if the increase is approved, and how will it compare to those in other area communities?

A: Lawrence’s predominant sales tax rate would be 8.9 percent, if the sales tax were approved. Two special taxing districts — one at the Oread hotel and one at the retail development on the northeast corner of Sixth and Wakarusa — would have sales tax rates of 9.9 percent. Sales tax rates for other communities, as of October, were: Baldwin City, 8.4 percent; Eudora, 8.15 percent; Kansas City, 8.75 percent, although the area around the Kansas Speedway has rates ranging from 9.375 percent to 10.775 percent; Lenexa, 8.75 percent; Manhattan, 8.4 percent; Olathe, 8.875 percent; Overland Park 8.5 percent; Shawnee 8.625 percent; Topeka, 8.8 percent.

Q: If approved, when would the sales tax begin?

A: April 2015.

Q: Is there any type of study that says the efficiency of police departments improve when the force is located in one building?

A: Khatib has said he believes it is intuitive that bringing the force to one location will improve the opportunities for communication and collaboration, which he said would lead to a more effective police force. He also notes that other communities have moved from multiple locations to a single location. Olathe is a nearby example, he said.

But the city has not presented any published studies or research on the topic. The Journal-World contacted David Klinger, a professor in the criminal justice program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, one of the top-rated criminal justice departments in the region. He said he was unaware of any academic studies that examined the role facilities played in the overall effectiveness of police forces. He said it was clear that access to basic types of facilities was critical to police departments, but he said he was unaware of research on the benefits of having a police force in a single facility versus split among multiple facilities.

Q:I heard that half of the West Lawrence building where the city’s detectives and administrators are located is unfinished. Why doesn’t the department just use that space?

A: Khatib has said preliminary research indicated it wouldn’t be cost effective to remodel the space for police use. He also said the site doesn’t have enough room to accommodate all the parking needed for police and staff vehicles. He has said he believes the department would greatly benefit from having a facility that’s specifically designed for police work.

Q: What about the Douglas County Jail? Did I hear it also is going to have to be expanded?

A: County commissioners have said they think it is very likely the Douglas County Jail will have to be expanded in the next few years. County commissioners earlier this month hired Treanor Architects, one of the architects also working on the police project, to study a jail expansion. A cost estimate and funding plan for the jail expansion hasn’t been determined, but county officials have said it would be a multi-million-dollar project.

Opponents have questioned whether the city and county could gain efficiencies by working together on the two law enforcement projects. But both city and county officials have said the two projects are different enough that they do not believe there would be many efficiencies gained by a coordinated project.

Q: I’ve heard opponents say we shouldn’t approve this sales tax because the City Commission voted to build the Rock Chalk Park sports complex in northwest Lawrence. How are those two projects related?

A: Opponents have sought to tie the issues together largely because of how the Rock Chalk Park complex is funded. It’s funded with proceeds from a sales tax approved by voters in 1994. City commissioners last year agreed to use approximately $22.5 million in future proceeds from the sales tax to fund the sports complex. Commissioners made the funding decision without calling for a citywide election. Opponents have argued city commissioners knew of the needs of the police department at the time, and could have used the proceeds from the 1994 sales tax to fund the police headquarters. City commissioners agree they could have used the proceeds for that purpose, but they have argued that when voters approved the sales tax in 1994, they expected the majority of the proceeds to be used for recreation projects.

Q: The proposed location is farther away from the jail, Municipal Court and District Court than the current law enforcement center downtown. Are patrol officers going to spend less time or more time traveling to those locations from the new center?

A: Khatib notes that while patrol officers will be father away from those locations, detectives will be closer to them. He anticipates the amount of time police personnel spend going to those locations largely will be unchanged. He said officers and detectives, however, wouldn’t spend time driving back and forth to the multiple facilities the department has spread across town.

Q: What will happen to the facilities currently used by the police department?

A: The city would move out of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. The building is owned by the county and the space currently occupied by the police department would be used for county purposes. City commissioners have said they intend to sell the West Lawrence office building that the police department currently uses.

Q: I’ve heard that the city declined to have its auditor conduct an audit of the city’s police department facilities, yet wants to move ahead with this project anyway?

A: That’s not quite accurate. The city auditor has conducted an audit of the police department and plans to conduct another. In 2010, City Auditor Michael Eglinski conducted a review of the police department’s administrative bureau. That audit was done at the direction of the City Commission. Its results were reported to commissioners in October 2010. The bulk of the report was suggestions for other police issues that could be audited. One topic was “ensuring adequate facilities and equipment.” But it wouldn’t be accurate to say the auditor recommended the facilities audit. It was included on a menu of 10 possible audit topics. When asked to provide his top three suggested topics, Eglinski did not include the facilities audit in that list. Instead, he listed his top three priorities as managing the police department’s workload, handling complaints, and measuring and reporting the police department’s performance.

It is accurate to note that city commissioners initially did not choose any of the topics for further review. Instead, it was not until the summer of 2013 that Eglinski was given preliminary direction from the commission to conduct an audit of the police department’s workload. That audit has not yet been conducted due to several other audits taking precedence. Eglinski said his preliminary plans are to conduct the audit in 2015.

Whether the workload audit would provide any guidance on how the city should proceed on facilities is a matter of opinion. As currently proposed, the audit will look at how the department uses technology to reduce workload and will look at other issues related to how the department attempts to operate efficiently. As for the facilities audit that Eglinski suggested, city officials have said they do not believe it would have produced any information that hasn’t already been produced by a study conducted by a pair of architecture firms hired by the city. Opponents of the project, however, have been critical of that study because they say the architecture firms stand to profit from a recommendation to build a new police headquarters.

Q: If central location is important, Kansas University owns some of the more centrally located land in Lawrence on its West Campus. Did the city talk about placing a police headquarters there?

A: City Manager David Corliss said the city did ask KU officials about the availability of property at Bob Billings Parkway and Kasold Drive. Corliss said the university determined that property was not available to the city because it likely will be important for future university purposes.

Q: Are there any costs that aren’t included in the $27.95 million price tag?

A: Yes. Corliss said there could be some roadwork, sidewalk work and other infrastructure improvements needed in the area surrounding the Hallmark site. Corliss said he doesn’t have an estimate for those costs, but he’s confident the amount could be accommodated within the city’s existing budget and would not require a property tax increase.

Q: How much space does the department have now? How does that compare to what is proposed?

A: When you combine the space at its various facilities, it has 37,489 square feet, according to city figures. The planned main facility would provide about 63,000 square feet of space. When the parking garage and outbuilding is added to the project, the total grows to 86,031 square feet.

Q: Does the proposed project fit in to the city’s current debt guidelines?

A: It is possible that the proposed debt issuance will exceed two of the city’s adopted debt guidelines. As we reported in June, the city’s finance director calculated that the project would exceed a guideline that the city’s debt levels should be at or below 60 percent of the state-imposed debt limit. Another guideline that may be exceeded, the finance director said, is one that seeks to keep the city’s total debt limit below 1.5 percent of the property tax base. In June, the project was expected to push that level to 1.83 percent.

The total price of the project has come down some since June, but the city hasn’t recalculated how the project fits into the city’s debt guidelines, Corliss said. He said it’s still possible the project exceeds those two guidelines, but he noted the city is well within the state imposed debt limits. Corliss also noted that the city’s bond ratings have remained strong, which he said is an indication that the city has a reasonable level of debt.