From Deseret News archives:
Salt Lake's public safety bond gains 28 votes — but not enough
The $192 million proposed public safety bond was defeated by 263 votes — 21,269 to 21,006, according to results of an official canvass announced Tuesday. The 2,416 valid provisional and absentee ballots made an already close vote closer — by 28 votes — but didn't change the outcome.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank called the outcome "unfortunate" but said he wasn't crossing his fingers in hopes of the Election Day results being reversed.
"It really doesn't change the direction we began proceeding down immediately after the election," Burbank said.
The police chief said he has been working with the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor-elect Ralph Becker on how to address the city's need for public safety facilities.
"At the end of the day, the need still exists," Burbank said.
The bond would have paved the way for five new public safety structures at three locations. About $100 million of the bond was slated to go toward a new public safety building to replace the nearly 50-year-old building, 315 E. 200 South, which public safety officials have called "dilapidated" and even "unsafe."
But the hefty price tag — and its accompanying property-tax increase of $175 per year on a $300,000 home — made the bond a tough sell. The proposal also had several high-profile opponents, including Mayor Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake County Council members Joe Hatch, Randy Horiuchi and Jim Bradley and the Utah Taxpayers Association.
Plans for the bond called for a new public safety building, an emergency operations center and a combined parking/evidence storage structure to be grouped as a downtown public safety campus.
That campus remains the No. 1 need for the public safety in the city, Burbank said. Discussions with members of the City Council and Becker have included talks about whether to focus on building that structure before addressing needs for the other facilities.
The bond also would have paid for a new west-side fire station and training center in Glendale and a combined east-side police/fire public safety facility in Sugar House.
Members of the Salt Lake City Council say the city's public safety facilities still need to be addressed — likely with a revised bond proposal. That proposal, they said, needs to come from Anderson or Becker when he takes office in January.
"We need to have the administration come back and tell us what options we have," Councilman Carlton Christensen said. "We need to do something. It's a dilemma for us, and we need to resolve it."
