Title
Resolution No. 17-14, Calling for an Election and Referring to the Electors a Bond Measure for the Construction of a New Police and Municipal Court Facility
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Passage of Resolution 17-14, authorizing a special election in September of 2017, asking the citizens of Oregon City for permission to issue bonds in a principal amount of $16,000,000 to be repaid with revenue collected through the Community Safety Advancement Fund.
BACKGROUND:
After studying alternatives for years, the City Commission resolved that a modern police department, municipal court, and emergency operations center should be constructed at the Mt. Pleasant School property, which was purchased by the City in January of 2015. The cost of the construction is estimated to be $20 million. This ballot measure seeks authorization to allow the City to borrow up to $16 million, over 20 years or less and to issue revenue bonds to finance a portion of the new police and municipal court facility. Repayment of the bonds would come from fees already being collected by the City. Those fees will continue to be collected by the City regardless of whether this measure passes. The remaining amount for the project would come from the sale of the current building and funds collected prior to the bond issuance. Approval of this measure would not allow the City to raise taxes or raise fees.
The new police and municipal court facility is expected to include separate entrances for those seeking police help and suspects of crimes, private interview rooms for victims, a modern emergency operations center and a public meeting space. Improvements to the municipal court are expected to include better security, a larger courtroom, and private meeting rooms for attorneys and their clients. The new police and municipal court facility would also be more easily accessible to disabled citizens.
Oregon law (ORS 455.400) requires that police and other emergency buildings meet seismic ...
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