Lansing voters will consider a bonding proposal during the general election to pay for a new public safety facility.
If the bond proposal is approved, the city of Lansing would replace aging fire, police stations and courts into a new facility on South Washington Avenue. The site is a former McLaren Hospital parking lot.
Mayor Andy Schor says if the proposal fails, operations would have to continue in substandard facilities.
“The heat doesn’t work well in the winter. The air conditioning doesn’t work well in the summer,” he explained. “They’re very, very old, and they’re very, very inefficient, and they’re not something where we can recruit officers to come to Lansing and serve when they see these facilities.”
The $175-million-dollar plan includes a replacement for Fire Station 9, consolidation of police facilities currently next to City Hall and on Wise Road, and four new courtrooms.
“The costs are more than our every-year budget,” Schor added. “We couldn’t put every dime of our budget into just facilities.”
If approved, the bond proposal would cost the owner of an average Lansing home $153 a year for no more than 30 years. Taxes on businesses would cover almost half the total cost of the new facility.
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
