Debt Opposed for Funding of Police Complex
GLENDALE — A third City Council member came out Tuesday against borrowing money to build a $48-million police complex, indicating that the five-member council now is leaning toward a pay-as-you-go funding approach.
Councilman Sheldon S. Baker, who only last week refused to rule out allowing the city to go into debt for the complex, said during a sometimes heated two-hour budget-study session that he is now against financing any portion of the project, which would include a new headquarters, jail and garage.
The debt “would be an albatross around our neck,†Baker later said in an interview.
Previously, new council members Ginger Bremberg and Dave Weaver said they were firmly against City Manager David H. Ramsay’s recommendation to raise one-third of the cost by selling certificates of participation, a mortgage-like debt that would not require voter approval.
The other borrowing option, the sale of municipal bonds--which would need the approval of two-thirds of the voters in an election--was not included among the six choices Ramsay presented to the council.
Under the plan now being considered, the city would pay for the new complex with cash, some of which would be transferred from the capital improvement fund, Finance Director Brian A. Butler said.
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