New fire, police stations likely with tax's passage

A lot of promises came with the recent renewal of the fire sales tax in Cape Girardeau.

City officials say plans are in motion to fulfill them, with some of the first steps beginning as early as next month.

The quarter-cent tax was first approved by voters in 2004, with the one-eighth-cent renewable portion approved in August.

That portion of the sales tax has a 21-year sunset.

During those years, the revenue from the tax will help pay for renovations to fire stations 1 and 2, replace fire station 4 and contribute $4 million to the replacement of the police station.

Information from the city released in the months before the November renewal of the tax showed plans to contribute $600,000 a year for facility needs.

Vehicle and apparatus needs also were allotted $600,000 a year.

Facilities

Early talks with Fire Chief Rick Ennis and other fire officials have been held to prioritize projects for fire-station facilities, said city manager Scott Meyer. Stations 1 and 2 are in line for a few remodels and additions, and station 4 on Kurre Lane is scheduled to be replaced. It's the city's oldest and smallest station.

"It may be that we start with some of the remodeling activities and spend some time figuring out where the location of the new station should be," Meyer said. "So when that process starts, we need to bring on board an architect to help us with that and eventually to design the plans. So the first step, I guess, will be getting an architect on board."

The new police station faces similar needs. Progress on a new police station, which would replace an existing station that's become outdated and too small for a growing department, has been slow because of initial problems identifying a funding source. Meyer said the city now believes it has overcome that hurdle.

"We believe that we now are secure with the fire tax portion, the restaurant tax portion and with the commitment of some casino funds," he said. "We've secured about $11 million in today's dollars."

To stay within that $11 million range, Meyer said the city will be looking for ways to bring construction costs down.

A location has not yet been identified for the new police station, but Meyer said a decision will be made after the city has hired an architect.

"So we'll be bringing in an architect ... and looking at locations for the best fit for that, and then, of course, the architect will begin to develop construction plans to make that happen," he said. "We'll get the architect on board because even evaluating locations and different opportunities, you want somebody to run the figures and figure out the different impacts, so having an architect on board to do that is really key."

Meyer said he expects the hiring of an architect to begin in January and that the planning and design will take a year to 18 months.

Planning and design for the new fire station 4 likely will take as long, but he said some of the remodeling for the other stations could take less time.

Many of these processes, including the selection of architects, needs to go through the city council for approval.

"We kind of look at everything that needs to be done and what our cash flow looks like and look at our best bonding scenarios, as well as its effect on cash flow," Meyer said. "So those are some things we'll do internally."

Equipment

Meyer said vehicle and equipment purchases will be made on an "as-we-go basis" based on needs and fund availability. This is the method the city has historically used when buying police vehicles, he said, but the last time the city bought firetrucks, they were all purchased at the same time. It's a method that comes with a few pros and cons, Meyer explained.

"The positives are you can buy the same truck and they will be the same for firemen as they go from station to station and truck to truck. And for the repairs and parts on hand, it's good for that," he said. "The negative for that is that they'll all get old at the same time as well. So we'll be looking at that, as well as cash flow, for the best way to save money on that."

Another issue the city must consider with fire apparatus purchases is inflation, Meyer said. Inflation has been high enough recently, "you're almost as well off to borrow the money and purchase them because you beat out the inflation," he said.

Much work still needs to be done before the public begins seeing tangible results from the tax renewal, but Meyer said the city wants to be certain it's moving forward responsibly.

"... We're going to move quickly but judiciously and try to make the money go as far as we can," he said.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

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The fire sales tax

• 2035: the year the one-eighth-cent portion of the tax reaches its sunset
• $1.2 million: the amount expected to be generated annually by the tax
• $11 million: the amount of funding secured for the new police station