Glendale ballot Question 2 would authorize $35 million for city operations facilities

This November, Glendale residents will vote on Question 2, a $35,000,000 bond measure to finance improvements to city operations facilities, a staff member said.

City operations facilities include buildings where the city maintains and repairs equipment such as public safety vehicles, road-preservation machinery, graffiti-removal equipment and building-maintenance tools, the staff member said. Many employees currently work in outdated spaces; the staff member said some rely on old swamp coolers instead of air conditioning.

The staff member said approving the bonds would let the city build a new facility and rehabilitate older buildings, which the city expects will save water and energy and help sustain service delivery to police, fire and other departments. “So with the bonds approved, we can actually build a new building, rehab the old buildings. This will help save water, save energy, and make sure that we can continue to provide those services into the future,” the staff member said.

On financing, the staff member said the bonds are not expected to result in a tax rate increase because the city plans to pay off existing bonds before issuing the new debt. “These bonds are not expected to result in a tax rate increase. The city plans to pay off old bonds before issuing new bonds. This combined with stable property values and continued new growth will keep the secondary property tax rate from increasing,” the staff member said.

No formal action was taken at the meeting excerpted in the transcript. The measure will appear on the November ballot for a voter decision; the transcript did not specify a ballot date or the full text of the bond authorization.