Arlington Heights plans early sale of $35 million in bonds for police station
Worries about a possible property tax freeze have officials in Arlington Heights planning to borrow for a new police station nearly a year earlier than planned.
The village intends to sell $35 million in bonds for its new police station in January, rather than late in 2016, said Village Manager Randy Recklaus. That will ensure the new debt will be accounted for if state lawmakers approve a property tax freeze, he said.
Officials have said residents will not see their taxes go up to pay for the project, since the village is retiring other debt in 2016. But taxes won't be going down, either.
“Our rate would be naturally dropping because we are paying off other debt,” Recklaus said. “But if property taxes are frozen before we bond for the police station, then they are frozen at that lower rate and we can't bond for more.”
There has been no official movement in Springfield toward a property tax freeze, but Recklaus said officials just want to have their bases covered on what is the largest project the village has taken on since the renovation of village hall nearly a decade ago.
“The state issue is certainly driving this,” he said. “It's not going to impact the taxpayer one way or another because we were still planning on doing this. It's just a matter of timing.”
Recklaus said concerns about rising interest rates are also a factor with issuing bonds in January instead of later in the year.
The $35 million bond issue will fund construction of the new building on the same site as the current police station, as well as architectural costs, fees, contingency, furniture and the expense of relocating the police department during construction, Recklaus said. The building itself is expected to cost $27.9 million.
The bonds, which will need to be approved by the village board early next year, likely will be repaid over 20 years, but officials said that could depend on the market at the time of the sale.
The new police station will be a two-level 70,500-square-foot building with a basement and a 10,000-square-foot indoor garage for police vehicles. The next steps for the project include getting an architect and construction manager on board, Recklaus said. Construction is not expected to start until early 2017.
“It's all a matter of timing to make sure we can get this funded without having to raise property taxes,” Recklaus said.