More Comments On The Proposed Safety Center
Here’s a letter than appeared on Newsok.com
The City of Edmond has been funded by sales tax for years and a sales tax related budget will grow with our city. We have a lower tax rate than other metro areas. Our city is way over-budgeting and already spending our money very extravagantly on numerous pet projects. This facility as stated by our city officials is being built for a twenty year growth cycle; this cycle is changing very rapidly, Edmond is only building only an average of 150 houses per year. the location is questionable. The city does need more space and maybe a new facility but, the city should be more conservative and live within the current budgets. Build what we can afford, be fiscally responsible. Our city is trying to extend our taxation to buy a rolls royce when all we need is a lexus, the maintenance and utility costs for this rolls will also cost us dearly over the long term. Notice that I still want a nice facility and think we are a community which can afford such. Just please don’t be a doormat for the city to get their over-paid, over-pensioned, over-vacationed and over-budgeted hands on. This taxation is an attempt by our city to just see if they have other opportunities to expand their greed. I am sure if this proposal were to pass more would follow and they probably will still try to raise the sales tax. VOTE NO!
naes, edmond –
This is a letter from developer Derek Turner:
I am writing this letter to express my thoughts on the debate surrounding the city’s plan to build a new public safety center.
As a developer and builder of both residential neighborhoods and commercial office parks in Edmond, I too was concerned about the project’s cost per square foot and voiced that concern to Police Chief Bob Ricks. After reviewing the current police facility’s assessment, the consultant’s report for locating the facilities on Kelly, it became clear the proposed Public Safety Center includes many features not found in typical commercial buildings.
Several of the requirements I noticed include: federal jail mandates requiring natural sunlight; video surveillance systems to ensure officer safety; non-slip padded flooring; commercial grade stainless steel counter tops and fixtures to control communicable disease; exterior hardening to improve security; a facility-wide uninterrupted power supply; chemical resistant decontamination and laboratory facilities; HEPA rated air filtration; in-line plumbing grinders; an updated 911 communications center with state of the art computer aided dispatch equipment to support our calls for emergency services and 24/7/365 operational usage (four times the typical usage found in most commercial buildings).
After hearing about all of these “program” specific requirements I realized it is not fair to compare this project’s cost per square foot with typical construction costs. In fact, although the core and shell of the building are fairly typical, it is the “tenant finish” that drives the majority of costs in the public safety center. And therefore, it is unreasonable to compare the costs of this project with typical residential or commercial costs.
In addition, I believe in Chief Bob Ricks and the committee appointed by the city manager, Larry Stevens, to review the need for this facility. They have studied the issue for several years now and we are convinced making this investment in our community is critical to Edmond’s future.
The bottom line for me is this. If we don’t fund this project today, costs will only increase. We owe it to our community and future generations to extend the Edmond experience. I encourage you to consider this an opportunity to invest in Edmond’s future. I encourage you to vote yes for Edmond’s public safety center.
Edmond Dan O’Neil released this week his calculations on the spending and savings associated with raising property taxes compared to increasing sales tax to fund a new $31.5 million Public Safety Center to house the police department, 911 communication center and emergency operations. Here are his figures:
Public Safety Center (PSC) – $31.5 Million
5 percent Interest (bond costs) - $10 Million
Total Cost for PSC Bond - $41.5 Million
Federal Tax Reduction to Citizens -$10.0 Million
Big Box Retailers Tax Participation -$ 5.0 Million
Cost to Edmond Citizens $26.5 Million
Sales tax still lowest in Metro and so is our property tax
Here’s a comment from someone who wanted to remain anonymous:
A family member was an assault victim a few years ago and I cannot say enough good things about the Edmond Police Department. They do an excellent job of keeping Edmond a very safe place to live. I strongly agree new facilities are needed, even though I feel they would better serve everyone if they were kept in the downtown area.
I also feel a sales tax would be a much fairer way of paying for these improvements. Edmond enjoys one of the lowest sales taxes in the Metro and even with an addition would continue to remain in line with other areas. I am also concerned with the present police department building and any other buildings that will be vacated when new facilities are finished. I have not heard this addressed. Do you have any information concerning this?
This is Edmond Police Chief Bob Ricks response to my Oct. 29 column:
With less than a week remaining to vote on a new Public Safety Center in Edmond, it appears that the opposition is resorting to distortion in an attempt to confuse the voters. We have seen articles where the costs have been greatly overstated.
Mr. Randel Shadid indicated that the proposition would raise homeowners property taxes over $2,000. In actuality, homeowners with an assessed value of $100,000 would see their taxes rise an average $3.66 per month, or $43.92 per year.
This is not exactly $2,000. For a home with an assessed value of $200,000, the taxes would rise an average of $7.69 per month, or a total of $92.27 per year. All of these figures are before considering that in most cases these taxes are deductible on both Federal and State returns, which will substantially reduce the costs to the taxpayer.
It has been estimated that by using property taxes instead of sales taxes, we will be saving the taxpayer over $14 million. This is because with sales taxes high interest rates would have to be paid and substantial reserves are required.
DO NOT be misled. For more information please go to www.edmondok.com.
The continued low-crime rate of Edmond depends on the ability of Police to have the support they need.
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As a REALTOR who specializes in the Edmond area, and calls Edmond home, I’m glad to see this proposal being discussed so much lately. I believe this issue affects everyone who lives in, shops in, or visits Edmond, and it’s important that we all take an active role in our City’s growth.
I personally believe the facility being proposed is needed, and it seems that the majority of the opposition is not to the facility itself, but rather to the mechanism used to fund it. Confusion of the voters is mentioned above, but much of that confusion has been caused by the inconsistency in the costs being reported.
Personally, I believe that everyone who benefits from this improvement should pay their fair share, which includes everyone, not just property owners, therefore I support a temporary sales tax, even if it does mean a higher net cost. I also believe that we’re more likely to see the sales tax lowered once the project is paid for, whereas I have yet to see property taxes decreased for any reason.
In addition, in my experience as a REALTOR, clients who decide against moving to Edmond will ALWAYS point to two things; heavy traffic, and high property taxes. Do we really want to further discourage property ownership in Edmond by raising property taxes even higher?