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Show , Iffl Tud TtyAgmm On City Hell (JO fiy MARK FOTHERINGHAM . NRTH SALT LAKE -- Battle lines are being S30 drawn up again for the proposed North Salt Lake j L'ty Hall complex and bond election coming up on election day (Nov. 8th). 5 j A SIMILAR (but more expensive) proposal was V defea'ed in a special election last month but the city it cuncil decided to put the issue back on the ballot A after receiving a citizen's petition requesting another vote. . Strong opposition to the original $800,000 proposal, propos-al, however, prompted the city to reduce the size of 'he project. The cost of the new proposal has been 'POed to an estimated $600,000. P ; 1HAT MOVE, however, has not completely aPpeased all the opposition to the proposal. NSL residents Ivon Wall, Mark Craven and Merlin Page attended last week's city council meeting to say that tissue should not be placed on the ballot again. '' "I don't understand why the issue is going back on ne ballot so soon after it was defeated," said Mr. I Wa'l. "It is a waste of city money. Most of the people 'nave talked with think we are being too hasty." J- MR. WALL agreed that the city does need some new facilities but added that more time should be spend on addressing what the actual needs of the city are. "Even the reduced figure is still too high. I could build you what you need for only $200,000," he said. Defining "needs" is still the biggest difference between proponents and opponents. The originally defeated proposal was designed to accommodate the city's space requirements for the next 20 years. The new proposal, according to city officials, would provide pro-vide for the immediate needs of the police, fire, judicial judi-cial and administrative departments and allow for future additions as they become needed. "WE ALL AGREE on trying to achieve the greatest efficiency for the dollars spent," said Mayor Pro Tern John Graves. "We differ on the square footage and esthetic needs." For example, while Police Chief Val Wilson would like to see even more space than is now proposed for his department, Mr. Wall thinks that the police proposal prop-osal could be trimmed by about 75 percent. "We don't need a police state. There isn't that much crime in NSL," he said. THE COUNCIL invited Mr. Wall and anyone else to submit alternate plans that they thought would take care of the needs for city hall expansion. Although the election will be for the authorization or denial of a $600,000 bond sale, that doesn't exactly mean the cost for an expanded city hall will equal ' that amount. ACCORDING to City Manager Colin Wood, the language of the proposition that voters will see on the ballot has been drafted to give some flexibility to the issue. Basically, the question reads, "Shall general obligation bonds. ..in the sum of $600, 000. ..be issued and sold for the purpose of paying all or part of the cost of.. .an expansion of the existing city hall?" Mr. Wood explained that although the proposition mentions the specific sum of $600,000, the bond amount may be lowered if the construction bids come in lower than expected. The city will not, however, be able to sell more bonds if the construction construc-tion costy turn out to be higher than expected. THE WORDS "all or part of the cost" in the proposition gives the city the option of subsidizing cost overruns with other city revenues if necessary. "Naturally, the council hopes that the $600,000 will cover all the costs," said Mr. Wood. As for the effect that the new proposal will have on city property tax levies, the city is estimating a 1.8 mill increase rather than the 3 mill increase of the original proposal. That would mean an approximate increase of $14.40 per year on the average NSL home. MR. WOOD said, however, that the 1 .8 mill figure was a high estimate and that the final effect could be "considerably less." Depending on the interest rate and maturity schedule of the bonds, the city is looking look-ing at annual payments of from $75,000 to $81,000 (13-15 years at 9-9 Vi percent). The city recently paid off its only other bond debt, leaving an additional $24,000 from the present mill levy which could be deducted annually from any new bond debt the city incures if the present issue passes, said Mr. Wood. " IF OTHER city revenues increase, such as sales tax, we may only have to make a .5 mill increase," he added. "We are saying 1 .8 now so that we won't ever have to come back and ask to up it again later because be-cause we under-estimated revenues." But, whether or not NSL residents are willing to donate another $1.20 per month (eutimated average) for a new city hall facility is still anybody's guess. Only the ballot box will say for sure. |