52% in Salt Lake poll back public-safety bond

A little more than half of Salt Lake City registered voters say they would vote for a property-tax increase to pay for new public safety facilities, a new poll shows.

Fifty-two percent of voters said they would cast their ballot in favor of the proposed $192 million public-safety bond, despite an expected property-tax increase of about $114 per year on a $200,000 home, according to a Dan Jones & Associates poll for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV.

Another 39 percent said they would vote against the bond and 10 percent said they didn't know.

The survey of 500 registered voters in the city was conducted Sept. 3-6 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

The bond, which will appear on the ballot Nov. 6 as Proposition 1, would cover the cost of five public-safety structures at three locations. Plans call for a new public-safety building, parking structure/evidence storage center and an emergency operations center to be grouped as a downtown public-safety complex.

The other two structures that would be funded by the bond are a combined fire station/firefighter-training center in Glendale and a police/fire public-safety facility in Sugar House.

The $192 million bond being requested is the largest ever for the city, more than doubling the previous high of $84 million for the Salt Lake City Library, approved by voters in 1998. According to a cost analysis by city staff, construction of the library at today's costs would run about $198 million.

Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Scott Winkler says that shows just how much bang Salt Lake City residents would be getting for their buck.

"The biggest misconception we're getting right now about the bond is that it's a $192 million building, that police and fire just want this Taj Mahal-style, shooting-for-the-moon public-safety building," Winkler said. "That's not the case. It's actually five structures that will modernize public safety — police and fire collectively."

Winkler said the police and fire departments have outgrown the nearly 50-year-old public-safety building at 315 E. 200 South.

"It just no longer suits the growing needs of our modern police and fire departments," he said.

Salt Lake City Police Lt. Melody Gray calls the building "completely dilapidated." Evidence is spread throughout the city because of lack of space, and six detectives are sharing a work space designed for two, Gray said.