- Tallahassee city commissioners accepted a report of $135 million for the new Tallahassee Police Department headquarters Wednesday.
- Also, a measure to increase their salary will go on the 2024 ballot.
- Watch now to hear from a neighbor concerned with the price of the TPD HQ and from Chief of Police Lawrence Revell describe why it's needed.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Police headquarters, housing redevelopment and city commissioner pay.
I'm Alberto Camargo in the downtown Tallahassee neighborhood.
Bringing you a break down of some of the notable things that happened at Wednesday's city commission meeting.
Overall, city leaders voted to accept the report detailing the increase costs of the new Tallahassee Police Department headquarters.
That project is planned in the northwest Tallahassee neighborhood.
WATCH OUR REPORT ON WHY TPD SAYS THE UPGRADES ARE NEEDED:
The price has increased from an original estimate of $46 million in 2018 to now $135 million.
I spoke with Will Crowley, who says the increase in cost is causing concern for how the city manages its money.
"There's a need for a new police headquarters and I generally like the idea of something with a lot of uses for the public. But the problem is, this significant cost increase comes at a time when there's not a lot of public trust."
Speaking on the need for a new HQ, chief of police Lawrence Revell says the new building will house a lot of departments that are currently off-site from the existing headquarters on Seventh Ave.
"Our training facility is something that's going to save us hundreds of thousands of dollars because we have to drive vehicles out to the academy now, we have to rent space at the academy now, we have to send people there every single day for training. We're going to be able to do all of that in house."
Other developments Wednesday night:
- A public hearing concerning an increase to City commissioner salary was scheduled for the next city commission meeting. Voters will decide on this in November's general election.
- Also, the Tallahassee Housing Authority received 175 thousand dollars to make plans to redevelop the Springfield apartments in Northwest Tallahassee.
The city commission will next meet on May 8 here at City Hall.
In downtown Tallahassee, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
