RALEIGH -- Mayor Charles Meeker won't call a vote on the Clarence E. Light ner Public Safety Center at today's city council meeting, again delaying a formal decision on a controversial project.
Criticism over the likely property tax increase to pay for the proposed $205 million project has stalled momentum in recent weeks.
Several council members, including Thomas Crowder, Bonner Gaylord and John Odom, have raised concerns about the size of the project and the timing of passing a tax increase in the worst economic climate since the Great Depression.
Meeker, a strong proponent of the project, spoke Monday morning at a meeting with The News & Observer's editorial board about the 17-story structure that would replace the current police headquarters.
Joining Meeker was Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen, who is pushing council members to move forward with the project. The downtown tower would be the largest and most expensive building the city has ever built, housing police, fire, emergency communications and information technology departments.
Meeker said he'll wait to bring the Light ner Center to a vote until questions about the project's funding are answered and he knows he has a majority of the eight-member council in favor of building.
A delay, Meeker and Allen say, could mean a missed opportunity to save as much as $50million because of deals to be had with low construction costs and interest rates.
The Light ner project had been slated for a vote at today's meeting, just as it has at the past two council meetings in January.
"I hope they'll get comfortable with the project," Meeker said about the seven other elected council members. "We'll see where it ends up."
If the council approves the project, Raleigh property owners could see an 8 percent tax increase phased in over the next five years that would stay in place for 25 years. That increase would pay for building the Light ner Center and would also cover an additional $250 million in public works projects, including maintenance facilities for city vehicles and a solid waste treatment center being built in East Raleigh.
Homeowners of a house assessed at $200,000 would see their annual tax bill go up by $60.
But Allen and Meeker are now looking for other ways to help lessen the burden to property owners. Meeker wants Allen to explore whether increased facility fees for developers could absorb up to half the cost of the project. Meeker also wants to try to push back any tax increase until 2012 and lower the amount of the rate increase.
Sunk costs
The city has already spent at least $22 million on the project, buying two buildings to relocate the police department and paying the cost of the design and pre-construction services. Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan is moving ahead with plans to relocate his department, despite not having the official green light from the council. Dolan has said his staff will soon be out of the current, 50-year-old police headquarters.
Allen said Monday that the central location of all the city's emergency responders wouldn't be a security risk, as suggested by some critics such as Russell Capps, a former state representative who heads the conservative Wake County Taxpayers Association watchdog group.
"One blow would knock it all out, whether it's manmade or a natural blow," Capps said. "There's no way you can protect a building if [terrorists] want to do damage."
