Police Station Upgrade Bond in the Works

April 4th, 2008

The Klamath County Chamber of Commerce will be hosting an informational forum on the Klamath Falls Police Department Building Bond Measure on April 29th at the Klamath Senior Center. Property owners in the City of Klamath Falls will be voting on the bond in the May 20th primary election. The public forum, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., will feature information of interest to property owners and the citizens of Klamath Falls.

At their February 19th meeting, the Klamath Falls City Council voted to place the general obligation bond measure before the voters, if approved, this bond authorization would help the City finance the cost of remodeling the Shasta Way armory into a new home for the Klamath Falls Police Department. The total cost of the armory remodel is between $6.5 and $7 million. The City Council decided to ask the voters to partner with the City and fund $4 million of this cost over a 30 year financing. The City would finance the balance of the cost from future general fund revenues. The City currently has the $1.3 million purchase price already budgeted and available.

If approved by the voters, the property tax impact would be 16 cents/$1000 of assessed value. On a $200,000 home this would amount to $32 a year. A recent survey of City utility customers shows support for the new station; 63% of the respondents believe that the KFPD needs a new station (only 10% do not), and 73% believe that the armory will be a good location for that new station (only 6% do not).

A brief video tour of the old station house on Walnut has been prepared (running actual public tours is not practical due to space limitations and ongoing law enforcement activities). The video tour will run on cable channel 3, the Public Access channel, and will soon be available through the City's web-site.

'Open houses' at the Armory Building will be scheduled in April and May.