Puyallup safety building didn’t pass. The police briefing room is leaking. What’s next?
Voters in the Puyallup area might see a familiar item on the ballot during next year’s special election.
The City Council is considering whether to put the public safety building bond measure before voters three months after they barely failed to pass it.
The measure, which was on the ballot in November, received 5,613 votes or about 59.3 percent of the vote, according to the Pierce County Auditor’s Office. It needed 60 percent to pass. About 36.4 percent of the 27,286 registered voters cast their ballot.
If approved, the measure would bring the police department, jail and Municipal Court under one roof as well as establish a police substation at City Hall. The new building would be at 600 39th Ave. SE, The News Tribune reported.
The project has an $82.7 million price tag and would ask homeowners who own a median-priced home to pay about $20 per month in property tax for 25 years. This totals about $240 per year, The News Tribune reported.
‘Imminent need’
The measure needs to go back on the ballot because “it is of imminent need,” City Manager Steve Kirkelie said during a Nov. 23 City Council meeting. Recently, the fire sprinkler system in the briefing room at the police department’s 50-year-old building was leaking, he said.
“This need for this building does not go away,” Kirkelie said. “Time is not our friend here … these types of projects don’t happen overnight.”
Kirkelie said if the voters approve it in 2022, there is a two- to three-year window before bids are out and construction begins. Time is “critical” and the current building is continuing to experience issues, he said.
The council will make a final decision on Dec. 7 about whether it should be on the ballot in February. At the Nov. 23 council meeting, five councilmembers expressed support for placing it on the ballot while two were against it.
Mayor Julie Door, Deputy Mayor John Palmer and councilmembers Robin Farris, Jim Kastama and Ned Witting voted in favor. Councilmembers Dean Johnson and Cyndy Jacobsen voted against it.
Councilmember Dean Johnson said during the meeting that he supports placing it on the ballot again as there is an imminent need, but that the city should try to find a way to “tighten” their belt and trim the total price of the project to show “good faith” to voters. Some voters might have been concerned with the amount the city is asking them to pay, he said.
“I feel like I need to take a listen to that and recognize what they’ve stated to us,” Johnson said. “I’m struggling with, and I cannot support a rubber stamp on the same amount — $82 million — three months later when they’ve already told us ‘No.’”
Deputy Mayor John Palmer said he is comfortable with keeping the $82.7 million price tag as a majority of voters said “Yes.” There is an opportunity to further inform voters so they can better understand the need for the new building, he said.
“If we go lower then we’re tapping … into the general fund,” Palmer said. “If you knock a few million off of this, it doesn’t really matter. It’s pretty marginal. I think the simplest thing to do is go right back out and educate.”
The project was initially going to be $120 million, but the city cut costs and ultimately landed on the $82.7 million figure.
“There’s been a lot of thought process to make sure that this is a good investment for the next 30 years,” Police Chief Scott Engle said in October. “We are being good stewards of our community’s tax dollars.”
The measure must receive a 60 percent approval rate to pass. Ballots will be mailed out on Jan. 21 and the special election is on Feb. 8.
This story was originally published November 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
