OVIEDO, Fla. — It’s the final push before voters get to have a say on the matter for a second time in a row.
City officials and officers from Oviedo’s Police Department held an informational session Wednesday evening to try to convince residents to vote for a police building referendum that would use taxpayer dollars to renovate the Public Safety Building that has remained unchanged since its construction in 1990.
This is the second time the bond referendum question will appear on the November ballot.
Last year, the proposal that would’ve paved the way for funding was rejected with 63% of the vote.
The city already has $11.4 million set aside for the project from an approved bond referendum dating back to 2016.
According to the city of Oviedo, “the $11.4 million bonds were not issued because the approved funds were insufficient to construct the square footage determined necessary by the space-needs analysis.”
The initial 47,000-square-foot project was supposed to cost $47 million, but the city council has cut the size and cost for the project.
Due to the police department’s growing needs, the city is calling for the construction of a 28,800-square-foot police building, which would include a 10,000-square-foot police annex. That would require an additional $20.4 million in funding.
In addition to the police department’s growing needs and the projected population growth in the city of Oviedo, law enforcement officials said a renovated facility is essential because of crime. City officials noted white-collar crimes such as fraud and identity theft have skyrocketed, so detectives need additional space in which to work.
Council members adopted Ordinance 1745 on Monday, July 15, “calling for a referendum election to issue bonds” that do not surpass the estimated $20.4 million needed to construct the new building, plus the $11.4 million that the agency received in the 2016 referendum.
The cost for residents will depend on the taxable value of their property within the city’s limits. If a resident owns a real property with a $200,000 taxable value, they would pay approximately $97.06 more annually. For someone who owns a property worth $400,000 of taxable value, they would pay over $194 per year.
It’s a topic that generated mixed reactions from residents who attended the Wednesday meeting.
Lisa McCoy, who has been a resident of Oviedo for 20 years, said having an adequate facility provides a better service for the community and its citizens.
“I know expense is a big factor and everybody’s concerned about that, but it just gets more expensive and this community has grown in leaps and bounds, especially in the last 10 to five years,” McCoy said.
Another Oviedo resident voiced his concerns about the project’s costs, claiming they were more expensive than what the city had presented last year.
City officials said construction costs are becoming increasingly competitive. For this reason, they said they’re trying to establish a responsible budget to account for all costs involved in the construction of the police building.
Residents who attended the meeting were invited to take tours of the police department to let them see the state of the facility for themselves before voting on Nov. 5.
City leaders made it clear, however, that if they don’t get the votes required on the police building referendum this year, they will be forced to figure out a solution for it again next year.
They also emphasized that the cost for the project isn’t going to get cheaper.