Hanover Park secures financing for police station

With the blueprints for Hanover Park's long-awaited police station being finalized, the village now has lined up partial financing for the $19 million project.

The board of trustees last week approved borrowing $10 million over 20 years to help fund the 52,000-square-foot facility, which will be located to the immediate east of the municipal complex on Lake Street.

Despite the economic recession and cost cutting across all departments, officials say it's a good time to borrow.

Hanover Park is taking advantage of Build America Bonds, which are loans for capital projects in which the federal government rebates 35 percent of the interest. The program is expected to either expire at the end of the year or be modified to reduce the rebate.

Kevin McKenna of Spear Financial, Hanover Park's bond counsel, said the best bid out of three bids received was a Harris Bank group at 5.53 percent interest. By factoring in the 35 percent reimbursement, the new rate is just 3.63 percent interest.

The bonds became even more attractive to buyers because Hanover Park Finance Director Lafayette Linear said Standard & Poor's just raised Hanover Park's bond rating from AA- to AA.

"That makes the bonds more valuable for bidders," Linear said.

McKenna said the rating agency took several factors into consideration, including strong median household income levels, sound financial operations with strong reserves, and a moderate debt burden with limited capital needs.

Financing the remainder of the new police station will come later, but Public Works Director Howard Killian said a tight construction timetable is still on track. The village hired a construction manager last month and final designs are being discussed.

Killian expects the existing Mid-America building on the police station site to be demolished in July, with earthwork and the foundation being laid sometime in August.

The police department has pushed for the new, expanded facility since 1998 because of their extremely tight quarters; the number of officers and staff has more than doubled since the time the current station was built.