ANOTHER TAX HIKE?

A few months ago, a blue-ribbon Citizens’ Committee said that it was not the right time for Visalia to raise its sales tax.  Now some are already broaching the topic again, this time suggesting that such monies could be used to construct a new public safety facility (PSF, aka “police headquarters”).

In December 2013, the city council did the responsible thing and voted to go forward with building  the Visalia Emergency Communication Center (VECC, aka “911 call center”).  However, the council also decided that we don’t currently have the money to build a new PSF.  Let me explain why.

Our existing police headquarters is about 19,000 square feet.  The new VECC by itself will be 19,642 square feet and will cost $16 million, plus an additional $5 million worth of the latest technology.  If we added on a new police headquarters, that would increase the size another 36,000 to 42,000 square feet, and increase the cost an additional $36 million to $45 million.  A separate evidence storage building, 13,643 square feet, would add at least another $6 million to that cost.

While the city has had budget surpluses last year and this year and our reserves are growing again, the city’s general fund doesn’t have this type of money to spend.   In my opinion, we have other alternatives, such as remodeling our current police headquarters.  Once the new VECC is completed, a large amount of existing square footage will be freed up as the occupants of our current 911 center and our fire department administration will move their offices into the new VECC building.  A good remodeling job can bring these available spaces up to modern standards, at a fraction of the cost of building a new police headquarters that triples the size of what we already have!

A case in point is the old Tulare County Municipal Courthouse on Center Street.  That approximately 11,000 square foot building was deemed surplus about 15 years ago by the county, and sold to a private investor.  The county is now leasing space elsewhere, and the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) is leasing and occupying the remodeled municipal courthouse!  Imagine the rent payments the county could be saving if they had remodeled, rather than sold that building at a fire sale price.

On the other hand, Visalia city administration is spread out in at least three locations, City Hall North (Transit Center), City Hall East (Convention Center), and City Hall West (City Hall).  What if, in addition to remodeling our existing police headquarters, we instead focus our resources, without a tax increase, and proceeded with a less costly, non-essential services  new Civic Center/City Hall?  A few years back, I took my wife on an anniversary cruise in Europe.  Without exception, every historic city we visited had as its focal point their city hall.  Not one of those cities had as its centerpiece a new police headquarters.  Additionally, if we had the ability to move all of the city administration into one building, not only would that increase efficiencies for our city staff, and provide a new focal point of pride in Visalia, but it would open up the entire block where City Hall is now next to the existing police headquarters for future police headquarters expansion if needed.  I would suggest that a spanking new police headquarters three times the size of what we currently have, will not make Visalians feel safer.  Nor do we need a new tax that is searching for a project to spend it on.

Our police department does a terrific job in protecting and serving the citizens of Visalia.  I merely suggest that the public discussion focus on exploring all alternatives, rather than assuming  that the only option we have is to spend money that we don’t have on additional square footage that we don’t need.

TECHNOLOGY TIP
There is a new app called “CartSnap” which I recommend you try. You can download this app for free onto your smart phone. Pursuant to the city’s new shopping cart ordinance, this app allows you to take a quick snapshot of any abandoned shopping cart you happen upon around town, and send that picture along with a notification to the city. Code enforcement will then arrange to have that cart picked up, either by the business that owns it, or by city personnel.  I’ve tried this app a few times, and am impressed by how easy it is to use, and how quickly shopping carts are retrieved and no longer litter our streets.  Try it, you’ll like it, and you’ll be doing a service to your city.


Warren Gubler
Visalia Vice Mayor
(559) 713-4400 ext. 3313
wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us
directfromwarren.blogspot.com