Surprise!!! No GO Bond Vote on New Town Hall say Davidson Commissioners

aShortChronicle has been following up on the possibility of Davidson's first ever General Obligation (GO) bond vote, and the results will likely surprise readers.

As reported earlier the initial cost estimates for the project came in just at $17 million including a 30% contingency.  Here is the breakdown.

As the headline to this post indicates however, there will be no bond vote to fund the bulk of the Public Facilities project based on a very direct question posed to Commissioners on Thursday/Friday of this week.  Commissioners were asked their position on "putting the proposed new/remodel expenses for Town Hall/Public Safety facilities on the ballot via GO bonds."

As of Friday afternoon at 5pm 4 of 5 say they do not support the idea. (one commissioner did not respond)

All of the responses echo the same theme, rationalizing not going to the voters because this effort includes money for public safety and those are "essential services".  As elected officials they say their job is provide such services.

It should be noted however the renovation of the existing Town Hall from the above list is the portion of the bill to accommodate public safety.   That is just $1.8m out the $10.989m of overall proposed spending to house Town staff (not counting contingency) .  Said another way, the 16% of the spending needed for public safety is being leveraged to justify not going to voters for the other 84% for the rest of Town staff and some public meeting space.  Of course, some level of space is also necessary for these services, but it appears voters won't get a say in that part either.

It should also be noted that aShortChronicle has confirmed the project was discussed at a Tuesday evening Public Facilities Working Group meeting.  However, at the time of this writing more detail is not available on what was discussed.  The agenda for the May 23rd Board work session does include an update on this, but no attached detail is yet posted on the agenda.  Check here to see if that has changed.

There is always the possibility the overall Public Facilities project may be reconfigured to make it more palatable if voters will not be allowed to weigh in at the ballot box.  Maybe, it will be scaled back significantly.  Maybe, there will be some super creative financing to minimize the cost.  Maybe...

(For the record, aShortChronicle has never questioned the need for better Public Safety facilities or the spending required to achieve them.  However, it is extremely disappointing that the Board is using that need to justify not putting unrelated spending on the ballot.)

In their responses to aShortChronicle, Commissioners did indicate they favored pulling the last 4 items from the above list and putting them before voters as part of a bigger separate bond package along with a whole slew of other spending.

So, here is where we are at this point.

Voters very likely won't be allowed to have a say in a new Town Hall and public safety facilities spending, but they possibly will get to vote on an assortment of other items that could add many millions more in public spending.

Surprised yet?

Check back later this weekend for more on the items where Davidson Town Hall might be gracious enough to let you have a say at the ballot box.

Downtown Davidson parking study on Tuesday agenda...garage cost = $7 million

At Tuesday's Board meeting, Davidson Commissioners will get an update on a current parking assessment completed by Stantec as part of the public facilities study being completed.

When aShortChronicle told readers about the $17 million price tag for a proposed new Town Hall and other work, that did not include the costs for a possible parking garage.  According to the presentation in the agenda, that cost would be an additional $7 million.  At $193k per penny on the property tax rate for the upcoming FY2018 budget, that would require raising the tax rate just at 3 cents which is a little less than 9% (Stantec may have been using last year's numbers to get the 10% mentioned below.

Fortunately, in the rest of the presentation there are numerous options for increasing parking in the short term at much less cost.  These include working to get limited access to private lots (DUMC and the College) to support the Farmers Market as well as several efforts to increase the number of spaces by converting from parallel to reverse angle parking along downtown streets.

However, all of these things come at a cost albeit way less than $7 million.  If the town goes forward with any of these it should consider reinstating the Municipal Service District tax on downtown businesses to cover the costs rather than simply raising the property tax rate on all property owners.  Davidson dropped this tax from 14 cents to zero in its FY2011 budget to provide relief during the economic crisis.  That tax had brought in about $50,000 per year prior to being cut back.  That would go a long way to paying any finance charges incurred to make these non-parking garage related improvements.

View the whole parking presentation here.

Bonus Observation: The public facilities documentation including this parking presentation does not mention that the 25 spaces in front of the existing Town Hall will be lost if the proposed new Town Hall and couryard is built.  That means the proposed expansion of the existing Jackson Street lot i  the proposed plan just gets us back to even.  They arent new additional spots.

Davidson Public Facilities vote moved back...could stymie voter input

Another vote on a controversial subject has quietly been pushed off by the Davidson Town Hall.  This time it is the vote on the $17 million in public facilities spending to redo town hall.

At the April 25th Board work session meeting Commissioners received an update from the project's consulting team that included that price tag.  At the end of that discussion it was mentioned that a financial review would happen on May 9th with a vote tentatively scheduled on May 23rd for moving the project forward.

That schedule now appears delayed.  On Thursday the town sent out a notice that included more public information opportunities such as a booth st the Farmers Market on May 6th and a presentation at DUMC on the 11th.  The notice also said this.

"Town Manager Jamie Justice and Finance Director Pieter Swart will provide a financial feasibility plan at the Davidson Board of Commissioners’ meeting on May 23 at 6:00 p.m. The Davidson Board of Commissioners will consider making a decision on the public facilities project this summer."  (Emphasis added)

aShortChronicle followed up with the town to find out the impacts of this delay, particularly on the possibility of putting this funding on the November ballot in the form of GO bonds.  When Davidson considered GO bonds in 2016, they were told by their bond counsel, the Parker Poe law firm, that June was the deadline to get started for a November vote.  See this post from last year on that

When asked about this Town Public Info Officer, Christina Shaul, responded with this.

"Under the board’s current meeting schedule, the Davidson Board of Commissioners would have to adopt a resolution at the June meeting."

We also asked if this new tentative schedule of a "decision on the public facilities project this summer" effectively takes GO bonds off the table?

The response?  "This is yet to be determined."

That of course raises a question.  Is the town intentionally boxing itself in to not allow voters a say on this project?  Remember, Town Manager Jamie Justice is on record saying that giving voters a say in this is "not recommended."

If the Board does not vote in June one can easily see them going forward with this plan and not seeking voter input.  The lack of time to get it on the ballot will be the excuse.

Sometimes delaying a decision is a good thing.  Sometimes it could just be one more maneuver in the ongoing chess game between Davidson Town Hall and the public.

Only time will tell which one this is.

Davidson Mayoral candidate Rusty Knox supports voter input on public facility spending

aShortChronicle previously told readers about a recent Civics 101 class in Davidson where Town Manager Jamie Justice said putting public facilities spending before the voters was "not recommended". Justice went on to ask (seemingly rhetorically) "What if the voters say no?"

Well, what we didn't say in that original post from March was "who" asked the question of Justice during that class about seeking voter input using General Obligation or GO bonds which require voter approval.  That person turned out to be Rusty Knox, an announced candidate for Davidson Mayor this November.

In light of the eye popping numbers thrown around at Tuesday's Town Board meeting to support the proposed public facilities expansion ($17 million to be exact), aShortChronicle reached out to Knox to see what he had to say.

Here's Knox's response in italics:

The latest news from Town Hall regarding the potential “public facilities” project is a little overwhelming. What started as a genuine need for additional, and greatly needed, space for our police and fire departments plus some additional space for staff has turned into a $17 million dollar soft version of the Catalyst project from 3 years ago. Included in the plan is a total redo of the area that contains the farmers market.  Surprisingly, when surveyed most residents and vendors love the “organic” nature of our farmers market. This plan allows for more food trucks to park within the confines of the market area.  These trucks will come to town, park, make money and leave….taking away revenue from our local restaurants that have banner days on Saturday mornings.

As the process has moved forward “post Catalyst” one thing has been crystal clear, our Mayor and some of our Board members are in favor of ANYTHING that says development.  This latest round of development is something that will cost the taxpayers.  Our space constraints are real; if you don’t think so, go ask to tour the police or fire departments.  Our staff, which is stellar, works in cramped quarters as well.  Is there a need, absolutely?  Should we be moving forward with some form of expansion, yes?  Is that need $17 million?  The last time Davidson spent this kind of money was in 2007 on Mi-Connection.  Expenditures by the town at this level need voter input and support. 

I feel that when you are putting these kinds of numbers out there and we still are shouldering a loss from the cable purchase that represents 9% of our budget, a general obligation bond would serve the town in realizing some of our lofty goals.  The town should know by now that public support is paramount.  From our Core Values “Citizens entrust town government with the stewardship of public funds, so government will provide high quality services at a reasonable cost.”  Most citizens know that the actions of our Mayor, Board and Staff are in the best interest of the town, but at this price tag, the voters need to say yea or nay.

So, there you have it.  At least one person planning to seek public office thinks the public should have a say in these things.

$17 million initial estimate for new "public facilities" in Davidson.

At Tuesday's 4pm pre-meeting, Davidson Commissioners received an update on the so called "public facilities" project being driven with a consulting team made up of Creech & Associates and Stantec.

After 30 minutes going over a plan that includes renovating the existing Town Hall for public safety operations, building a new 3-story Town Hall on Main Street, and making updates to the public space around the building including modest additions to parking, Commissioners (and citizens) got a glimpse at the price tag - $17,005,740

Yes, you read that correctly.  The town is looking at a bill of just over $17 million if it built out this entire plan as presented.  That number did include a roughly 30-35% contingency, but that still means a $12.6 million base estimate.

Additionally, it would be hard to scale this back much without a wholesale redesign and reduction of the largest portion - the $9.2 million, 25,000 square foot new Town Hall.  The new Town Hall was estimated at costing $360/sqft which may sound high.  However, it was mentioned for comparison that Kannapolis recently completed a new Town hall building that cost $320/sqft and that project was much bigger allowing for significant economies of scale.

So, the obvious question is how to pay for all this if it goes forward.

Crickets...that will be discussed at the May 9th meeting with a possible vote to move forward on any plan as soon as May 23rd.

Remember, aShortChronicle told readers about Town Manager Jamie Justice saying a bond vote was "not recommended"?  Well, not a single Davidson Commissioner even asked about that at the Tuesday meeting.  The Board is looking at the largest spending item since Mi-Connection and not a mention of putting this before the voters.

You can read the whole presentation here and watch the video of the meeting here.  You can email your town Board at board@townofdavidson.org.

Voter input on public facilities "not recommended"

Davidson is in the midst of collecting public feedback on a proposed set of public facilities including expanded town hall and more parking.

In a press release sent out Friday the town started to make its case.

As Davidson’s population has grown from 4,000 in 1990 to almost 13,000 today, we have outgrown our existing town hall. Ensuring adequate space for our police and fire departments is particularly critical. We need to invest in our public facilities in order to keep pace with our service needs. We will study the approximately 4 acres of town-owned land on which our current town hall sits.

This is not the catalyst project where we were considering private-public partnerships to solve some of our space and parking needs on this land. However, as part of the catalyst process, we heard from hundreds of citizens that recognize our lack of parking downtown and a need for space at town hall.

At their July 12, 2016 meeting, the Davidson Board of Commissioners asked town staff to move forward with planning for our public facilities and to look at parking options.

Town staff have been working with a steering committee comprised of citizen experts in the fields of planning, architecture, construction, etc. to help guide the process and select an architect. Architect Creech & Associates have many years of experience in designing effective town halls, have conducted a space needs assessment of Davidson Town Hall, and will facilitate the public workshops. This spring they will create a preliminary design based on citizen feedback and then provide us with a budget estimate. In early summer, plan options and a budget will be presented to the board of commissioners for a decision on whether to move forward with the project

There is even a survey to gather input (none of the above is not an option).

However, the Town of Davidson likely does not want your feedback on one aspect of this project - how the town will pay for it.

At Thursday's Civics 101 class Town Manager Jamie Justice was asked if the town might use General Obligation Bonds, sometimes called GO Bonds.  GO Bonds require voter approval.

aShortChronicle was interested in the response as we've been trying to get an answer to that question.  In fact, just on March 9th Public Information Officer, Christina Shaul answered that question by saying...

"If the Davidson Board of Commissioners decide to go forward with a public facilities project, once they have a better sense of the cost estimate, they will examine a variety of options to finance it. This will be a topic at multiple board meetings this spring and summer, so we encourage citizens to listen to the discussions and share their thoughts."

So, what did Town Manager, Jamie Justice, say to the Citizen at Civics 101 just a week later when asked if public facilities spending might be put up for a vote?

"Not recommended," was the answer.  While trying to explain that answer Justice asked what he seemed to think was rhetorical question.  "What if the voters say no?"

Painting what will likely be the picture for how the town will strong arm this one through, Justice tried to justify avoiding the voters by playing the public safety card.  Davidson's Police and Fire Departments do in fact need more space.  What would they do if voters turned this down???

That argument however ignores another important fact.  This public facilities study is also looking at parking and significantly expanded space for the rest of Town staff.  Those things could end up being quite expensive and are also less necessary.

Justice did at least close his answer by saying ultimately the decision to seek voter input was up to the Board.  Regardless, citizens and voters should be very wary of any plan not strong enough to face them without reservation.

You can watch this exchange starting at the 15:30 mark of this video.