City of Monroe to ask voters to pay for new police station

This November, the City of Monroe will ask voters to consider a millage to fund the construction of a police station adjoining the city's new Central Fire Station that's only three years old.

Last Monday, Monroe City Council unanimously approved ballot language for a bond issuance request to construct the addition to the fire station located at 911 E. Third St. Per the resolution approved by council, the bonds' issue amount would be capped at $12.5 million and would be used "to pay the cost of acquiring, constructing, furnishing and equipping a police station as an addition to the existing fire station located on E. Third Street creating a public safety facility, including all site improvements."

The estimated millage rate is .98 mills for the first year of the levy, and an average of 97 mills per year over the 21-year life of the bonds.

"At our last work session, we exclusively discussed the police station project, and all the details associated with it and the rationale for considering, at this point in time, to go forward with it, reviewing cost estimates, a floor plan, elevation and site plans," City Manager Vince Pastue said last Monday. "...We struggled to try to capture (the entire request in the ballot language), but thankfully (City Attorney Matthew) Budds is very good at these things and offered the language for that."

The city has been discussing potentially building a new police station for the past several years. Construction of the $6 million Central Fire Station was completed in Fall 2019, with that facility selected as a priority over a new police station due to the poor condition of the old Central Fire Station at 75 Scott St.

City officials say that the new fire station building was constructed with the idea in mind that an addition of a police station may occur in the future. The city investigated renovating an existing building, looking at several locations across the city before ultimately deciding to ask voters to consider approving the construction of a brand new facility next to the fire station.

The city has leased its current police department space at 100 E. Second St. from Monroe County since the 1970s. The initial lease expired over 20 years ago, but the relationship has continued with the city leasing the space for approximately $60,000 per year. 

Both administration and council previously indicated they were waiting to move forward on the police station project until council determined how it wished to handle the long-term future of the city’s police and fire departments. In Fall 2021, the city formally consolidated the two entities under newly-appointed Director of Public Safety, Chad J. Tolstedt.

This paved the way for the city to begin serious analysis of the police station project.