Delay in Public Safety Bond Could Cost Millions More

None by KCPW

City and County Officials Rally for Prop. 1 in SLC

(KCPW News) Some Salt Lake County Council members and local business owners are balking at the 192-million dollar price tag on new public safety buildings for the Capital City. They say Salt Lake City should slow down and do more analysis. But City Council Member Eric Jergensen says further delays will only raise the price tag:

"Six months of such talk, combined with construction inflation, will add $15 million to the price tag," says Jergensen. "We just cannot afford as taxpayers to not move forward now."

Jergensen says the City Council will create an advisory committee of neighborhood groups, community councils and the Salt Lake City Chamber to oversee the project and keep costs down. Public safety officials say they hope to build the four new police and fire facilities for less than 192-million dollars. Former Salt Lake City Mayor Dee Dee Corradini says headquarters for the city police and fire departments is long overdue:

"It was in the planning stages in my administration," says Corradini. "If the voters of this city have been willing to bond for wonderful amenities like the Hogle Zoo, the new library, the Leonardo Center, certainly public safety has got to come first and foremost."

Corradini and members of the City Council deflect any suggestion that today's bond price tag is due, in part, to their own delays over the years. They blame the complexity of funding and finding land for the project.

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Sheriff Jim Winder both support the bond, because they say it will enhance safety for a major portion of county residents.

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