MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — For years, this city debated the pros and cons of replacing its original City Hall with a new one.
Proponents pointed to studies showing the early-1960s, one-story building was unsafe, unhealthful for employees and not worth remodeling.
Opponents decried the expense, arguing that the city should patch up what was broken and trudge forward.
Mayor Jerry Smith once warned publicly that the city should act before the roof collapsed.
After part of the roof over City Council chambers collapsed in July 2008, Smith’s warning seemed to some more like a premonition. A year later, City Hall employees moved to a nearby office complex where the city is leasing space through 2014.
Now officials say they’re ready to take the next step by building a new City Hall and civic campus.
This November, the city will ask voters to approve new property taxes to pay off a 30-year bond that would finance the project.
The $37.6 million plan, created with help from a volunteer task force in 2008, calls for more than simply building a new three-story, 34,000-square foot City Hall according to strict environmental standards.
It’s a complete revamp of the downtown civic campus, with a new police station, underground parking, amphitheater and an 8,500-square foot community center that will double as the city’s senior center.
“Mountlake Terrace has never had much of a downtown, ever,” Councilwoman Laura Sonmore said, recalling a 1990 series of arson fires that destroyed many businesses. “It’s a way to change citizens’ lifestyles.”
If voters say yes, property owners wouldn’t begin paying the new tax until 2012.
Under the proposal, the owner of a $256,200 house, which is the average home price in the city, would pay $3.48 a month in additional property taxes in 2012. That owner would pay $19.27 a month in additional property taxes from 2013 through 2040.
“If we don’t act now, then we don’t know what the future is going to hold in this volatile political climate having to do with finances and building construction,” councilman John Zambrano said.
City Manager John Caulfield called the estimated civic center price conservative, noting that cities have been taking advantage of a competitive bidding environment to keep costs down.
“It’s very likely that the project is going to come in at a much lower cost than $37 million and that the impact to average resident is going to be lower than $19 a month,” he said.
If a majority of voters say yes, construction would begin in 2012 and be completed by mid to late 2013, Caulfield said.
He said city officials decided to ask the public to OK new taxes because the project’s estimated $2.6 million annual cost is more than the city has available.
Interest on the debt will amount to about $67 million over the life of the bond.
A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 7 at council chambers, 6100 219th St. SW, Suite 200 to consider a council resolution supporting the ballot measure.
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429; ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
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