Santa Monica City Council to Issue Bonds to Help Finance Public Safety Building

The Santa Monica City Council has decided to issue up to $18 million in lease revenue bonds to help fund a new public safety building after voters rejected a $29.5-million bond measure to pay for the facility.

Police officials said a new building is needed to house the city’s police, fire and emergency operations because the 40-year-old headquarters now in use is overcrowded and run-down. The new police facility, which could be completed by 2001, would meet current earthquake standards and have backup power systems to prevent a communications breakdown. After the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the 911 emergency system was down for four hours.

But Santa Monica officials have been grappling with finding a way to pay for the $40-million complex since November, when a ballot measure that would have issued general obligation bonds for the building failed by 5 percentage points less than the two-thirds majority needed to pass. The city has $16 million in revenue set aside for the project and an additional $6.4 million in transportation funds that may be eligible.

On Tuesday, the council voted to issue lease revenue bonds that will be paid for with projected revenues over the next 20 years. Because these bonds do not tax local homeowners, issuing them does not require voters’ approval.

The council selected lease revenue bonds over another option that it dubbed “pay as you go,” which would have pulled money from various city budgets as the project was getting constructed.

“We could have gone down a route that would have plowed money from each budget, but that would have left us in a very tight situation to respond to emergency situations and other needs,” said Mayor Pam O’Connor.

City officials said that they felt the urgent need for the safety facility and that its long-term impact warranted the financing approved by the council. “This is a building that is going to be used by generations of Santa Monicans,” O’Connor said.