Politics & Government

Northfield Council Releases Statement About Safety Center Financing

Following criticism, the council has released a statement about its decision.

Editor's note: The following is a statement from the .


, the City Council voted to finance the Public Safety Center using lease revenue bonds. This decision allows for the construction of an essential Public Safety facility to house police services and fire administration, while maintaining flexibility in addressing fire facilities needs in the near future. Financing public facilities is complex and this statement is intended to help explain available financing options, as well as the reasoning behind the Council’s decision.

The process for Fire facility will be addressed in 2013 by the new mayor and city council with the expectation that a Fire facility will be funded in the next three to five years. This time frame will allow for the Police facility to be started and financed now. It will also permit discussions with surrounding township and cities on fire service delivery to progress.

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This process will create laddering of the Police and Fire facility bonds over a number of years instead all at once thereby lessening the impact on property taxpayers. In 2017 the City bonds will expire as a property tax.

The Council must consider a wide range of City facilities and their financing, for example, the topic of the library expansion will be discussed by the City Council subsequent to a decision being made on the Fire facility.

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Background on Financing

Under state statute, cities may issue general obligation (GO) bonds for a wide range of public purposes which pledge the full faith and credit of the city to payment of principal and interest. GO Bonds usually require voter approval, or a referendum, before the City can issue the debt. Capital Improvement Bonds (CIP bonds) are a type of GO Bond which may be issued only for building or improving a city hall, library, public safety facility, or public works facility; CIP bonds do not require voter approval, but citizens may submit a petition calling for a reverse referendum.

The Council chose a different type of revenue bond: lease/revenue bonds. With this financing method, either the Housing and Redevelopment Authority or the Economic Development Authority may issue revenue bonds to pay to construct the facility, and then lease the facility to the City. The City then makes lease payments to pay off the debt. This is the financing method that the City used for construction of the pool, and is the normal strategy utilized by the Hospital for its many improvements. It is also not an unusual financing method for public safety centers.

The Council had previously considered using CIP bonds. In fact had been moving to authorize the issue of $10,890,000 in CIP bonds in March of 2011 for a combined Public Safety Facility. In response to citizen input the Council decided to further revise the budget and scope of the project. Since that time, the Council has clarified the scope, location and cost of the project in response to citizen’s concerns in the following ways:

  • Convened a task force to reconsider possible reuse of the current Safety Center site and building. After reviewing all prior fact-finding and further refining cost estimates, they recommended not reusing the building.

  • Convened a task force to review all possible sites for a new facility. Their report recommended three sites from which the Council chose the property at 1601 Riverview Lane. It was further determined that police services and fire administration would be located at this site, with fire vehicle storage remaining at the current location for the next 3-5 years. The selected site allows for police expansion in the future as well as space for possible relocation of the fire department in the future.

Entered into a conversation with the rural fire association about the possibility of a new joint powers agreement for providing fire services to the district. 

  • Reduced the cost scope and cost of the facility and improvements from $10.8 to $7.2 million.

The decision to use the lease revenue option to finance the Public Safety facility allows the project to move forward in a timely fashion, capture a very favorable bond market and, most importantly, provide Northfield’s public safety officers with a safe, efficient facility to support the essential service they provide the community. 


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