New Police Headquarters costs surge, Phase 2 of Indio Public Safety Campus underway

Indio city leaders are beginning to work on phase two of the city’s Public Safety Campus that includes a new Police Headquarters.

Our crews attended Wednesday's city council meeting where a majority vote approved Capital Improvement Funds to begin designing and building phase 2 of the Public Safety Campus. 

Overall there was an outline of $19 million in the Capital Improvement Program for the fiscal year of 2024 and 2025. 

But after Wednesday's council meeting we learned the Police Headquarter building is going to cost much more than that.

Indio residents showed up to council chambers demanding answers and a timeline for when the city’s Public Safety Campus will be complete. 

Wednesday we learned that the Police Department Headquarter building that was estimated to cost $19 million is actually going to require a budget closer to $30 million.

"If it's 20 years that we have to pay it back, so it's 1.8 million, say it costs $30 million to build it, and we have to pay $6 million more to give them what they do invest in it. It's a wise choice because in eight to seven, ten years, whatever the timeframe might be, it's going to be more money," said Indio Mayor Pro Tem, Glenn Miller.

With a huge need for a completed Public Safety Campus I went to speak with Mayor Pro Tem Miller to hear the city’s plan. 

"So what we're going to do is find a way to go ahead and build it now and pay for it as we go along," said Miller.

City council approved $675,000 for the Police Headquarters design, and $5 million for the construction of the actual building. 

These funds are a part of the 2024 and 2025 Capital Improvement Program provided by resident taxes. 

"We have a set amount of money we spend every year. It comes from Measure X, that's our tax measure that we build once and sales tax, it's about $18.5 million a year," said Miller.

Now the city manager is tasked with finding up to $25 million to fund the rest of Police Headquarter building. 

Which Miller says can be paid by the following, "By either bonding, design, build, working with another, architect or group that will be able to fund it for us, and then we pay them back."

I also asked Mayor Pro Tem Miller if there was a timeline for construction.

Miller replied, "I would hope within the next year, I'd say to take at least that long because it's got to go out to bid."

According to Miller the $19 million that was outlined in the staff report was a down payment and not the full amount needed to complete the building. 

It could take 2 to 3 months to get the funding plan on the city council agenda.