North Port commits $4 million to design and permitting for new police station

NORTH PORT – In the most significant vote regarding the future of a new police station Monday, the North Port City Commission unanimously voted to commit $4 million from the general fund to pay for design and permitting of the new facility, which could be as large as 108,900 square feet plus ancillary facilities.

That facility would accommodate the city’s needs through 2065, but as board members pored over budget cuts for previously approved projects to be funded through the sales tax, some city commissioners acknowledged that facility – with a projected budget of $122.7 million – may need to be scaled back to 100,000 square feet, with some of those ancillary buildings put off as well, because of a lack of guaranteed funding.

The decision stick to the overall plan came, in part, after Commissioner Debbie McDowell pointed out that the board should still follow the advice of the experts.

That will not have to be firmed up until later in the design process and while city commissioners identified roughly $20 million in additional sales tax project spending that could be deferred but will wait to make any cuts final. Commissioners have a meeting April 2 with Chamber of Commerce officials to discuss the ideas.

The cost to build the entire 108,900 facility is actually $100 million. the remaining $22.7 million accounts for design, furnishing, IT wiring and contingency.

Support of the Chamber of Commerce is key for any potential bond referendum on the November ballot, since it promoted the passage of the most recent sales tax extension, as well a referendum allowing the city to issue bonds backed by the sales tax to help finance construction of the police station.

The city itself can only provide information on the potential bond issue, not advocate for its approval.

North Port gets revenue from a local-option sales tax that has been approved by voters four times. The 1% local sales tax is used by the Sarasota County School Board, Sarasota County and the municipalities of Longboat Key, Sarasota, Venice and North Port to pay for capital projects.

In November 2022, Sarasota County voters approved extending that tax through December 2039.

The school district gets one quarter of the tax revenue, while the remainder is split between the cities and Sarasota County based on population.

The city of North Port’s share of the revenue is projected to be about $316.2 million.

What projects could be cut or deferred?

The major sales tax project on the chopping block has always been Phase II of the widening of Price Boulevard, which would run west from Sumter Boulevard at least to the entrance of North Port High School and Heron Creek Middle School, which would provide the lion’s share of at least $50 million in funds as part of a bond that would need to be approved by city voters in November.

Most of the projects identified to join that on a list of deferred projects were on a parks and recreation wish list.

Commissioner Pete Emrich, who joined the meeting virtually while recovering from his March 8 motorcycle accident, reminded his fellow board members that some of those long delayed park projects can be classified as “needs” – especially a long-delayed community center on the city's east side.

“A PD is certainly a need, a community center is also a need,” said Emrich, who noted the long list of projects targeted for deferral. “We’ve got citizens out there that love our parks and recreation and what they do for us.”

He broached the idea of targeting the $100 million police station design, which would include notes of where shell space could be added later.

While the commission left that door open, it still wants to review sales-tax-funded projects for deferral or reduction: the $7.5 million earmarked for that community center, $7.3 million for a multimodal  recreational trail along Tropicare Boulevard, $2 million for an observation deck at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, $1 million for more splash pads, and $5 million to implement the Warm Mineral Springs Master Plan and $925,000 for a trailhead at the park.

Commissioner Phil Stokes asked if $5 million of the community center funds could be freed up for now, with construction of the project phased in.

What’s next in the process?

The ultimate goal is for the City Commission to come up with at least $100.6 million but ideally $122.7 million to build the police station.

Technically the decision to use $4 million out of fund balance for the design and permitting just reduces the amount the commissioners must still find $96.6 million or $118.7 million.

City commissioners identified about $15.6 million in revenue that could be raised by sale of city-owned assets, including a projected $7 million sale of the existing police station to Neighborhood Development Services.

Originally, city officials had contemplated asking voters to approve the sale of two bonds – a $50 million bond backed by sales tax and up to $35 million backed by a property tax increase – something that current commissioners hope to avoid.

City Commissioner Barbara Langdon noted that from her perspective the goal was to minimize the impact on city taxpayers and not jeopardize essential city projects.

Stokes said that he was not yet “ready to throw in the towel” on fully funding the police station, but acknowledged that the perceived “need” for the police station may have to be satisfied by a less ambitious project.

“We may find that the ask for a millage rate increase may be too high for our taste and certainly the citizens’ taste and we’ll have to reevaluate the size and scope of this project,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: North Port commissioners agree to $4 million for police station design