Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND —
A potential December 2011 sales tax election, the pursuit of federal dollars and other ideas were floated Wednesday by a panel exploring funding options for a Public Safety Center in Edmond.
Committee members discussed issues behind the defeat of the previous proposal, including voter distaste for the property tax, and how to make the future proposal more palatable at a time when many are feeling economic pain.
Ideas discussed included combining local tax dollars with federal monies.
Edmond Mayor Patrice Douglas told members of the Subcommittee for Funding the Public Safety Center that next week she will meet with individuals in Washington to discuss possible federal funding.
Douglas said the discussions will include seeing if she can find a group that would be able to help the city locate hard-to-find federal funds.
“I’m going to talk to some folks to see if there’s public safety funding, if any of them have expertise in chasing money for public safety, and if they do if they think it would be worth our effort,” Douglas said.
Edmond Mayor Pro Tem Charles Lamb said city leaders told voters the PSC was needed before the previous election, and it failed for a variety of reasons, largely due to the property tax, but the need has not abated.
“So there’s a credibility issue for those of us who were out standing in front saying, ‘We still need to do this,’” Lamb said. “We still need to do this.”
Funding the project through a sales tax is the way to go, Lamb said. However, the economic climate is not substantially better, but not as bad as elsewhere and it may be awhile before conditions improve noticeably, he said.
In a June column published in The Edmond Sun, Nick Massey wrote that there is “plenty of pain still to come,” citing in part increased food stamp usage and the housing “non-recovery.”
“We’re all reading the national newspapers, and doom and gloom is hanging out there. November may change the dynamics a little,” Lamb said, alluding to the looming national election. “But you’re not going to turn this boat that fast.”
City Treasurer Stephen Schaus said he thinks the city’s focus should be on how to have a successful sales tax.
Douglas said the sales tax would be even more palatable by telling voters that they would not foot the entire bill, that some of it would be coming from federal sources such as tax credits.
The way to explain the sales tax issue to voters in a tough economic climate is to be able to show them how you have gone out and exhausted all avenues of funding and have worked to keep taxes at a minimum, Douglas said.
Committee members discussed the merits of obtaining federal funding and an 1/8-cent or a half-cent sales tax increase for possibly a two- or five-year period, a strategy that would provide financing savings. Members also plan to talk to local retailers about how they would feel about an increase.
Janet Yowell, executive director of the Edmond Economic Development Authority, said during the past 20 years Edmond has had a good record when it comes to getting proposals passed.
Voters nixed a property tax in 2008 that would have funded a new $31.4 million, 83,000-square-foot facility at Main and Kelly. Land the city bought for $435,000 recently on the southwest corner of Littler and Hurd is being considered for the proposed Public Safety Center.
A 2005 needs assessment study revealed that Edmond’s downtown police station is outmoded due to its limited space and configuration. The proposed building would house the Edmond Police Department and the Public Safety Communications Department.
No specific dollar amount has been pinpointed publicly for the future Public Safety Center, but panel members mentioned a $15 million to $20 million price tag.
The next Subcommittee for Funding the Public Safety Center meeting will be at 10 a.m. Oct. 6 at the Multipurpose Activity Center. Later this fall, members will report their recommendations to the CIty Council.
marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 367
