Tomorrow's Raleigh City Council meeting is bound to be interesting with the eight-person council set to vote on whether or not to go ahead with plans to build the $205 million Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center.
Saying yes means a likely property tax increase in the worst economy since the Depression.
But the Raleigh City Council is also holding a hearing Tuesday evening designed solely to hear residents' input about the budget: what should and shouldn't be paid for with city dollars. Anyone with two cents to offer is invited to attend.
The public safety center, 17-stories high and named after Raleigh's first and only black mayor, would replace the current Raleigh police headquarters on McDowell Street near downtown's Nash Square and on the same block as City Hall.
Though most councilors agree that the current facilities for the police, fire and emergency communications are inadequate, the financing of the project has proven worrisome.
Three have said they are for it, including Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, while three oppose going forward on it because of the timing and financing that could mean an 8-percent tax increase. Not decided yet are Nancy McFarlane, who represents a swath of North Raleigh neighborhoods, and councilor-at-large Russ Stephenson
Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen suggested that the council consider a $500 million loan that would combine the building with $250 million in various public utility projects around the city.
And that could mean a likely property tax increase for Raleigh taxpayers when the council hashes out its budget this spring and summer.
Allen's proposed a funding model for the Lightner project that would add three cents phased in over the next five years to the current tax rate of $0.375 for each $100 the assessed value of a property. In short, homeowners with a house assessed at $200,000 would see a $20 jump in their taxes for each penny, $60 in total.
Meeker wants to move ahead with the project, acting now
could mean saving the taxpayers as much as $20 million by locking into
lower interest loans and constructions costs.
The vote on the Lightner Center is expected during the council's afternoon meeting, which is open to the public and begins at 1 p.m. at the Council Chamber, Room 201 of the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, 222 W. Hargett St.
But the council will come back at 7 p.m. to hear from the public about what should, and shouldn't, be funded by the city in the coming year.
Click here to check out a photo gallery of the proposed center, designed to be energy efficient and house the city's police, fire, emegency communications and technology departments.
Have thoughts on this? Contact Sarah Ovaska at sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4622.
