Tampa Police present progress report on new evidence, impound and fleet facility; budget and timing outlined

Tampa Police Department leaders on Aug. 7 briefed the City Council on progress for a new consolidated evidence, impound and fleet facility at 5005 North Howard Avenue, outlining budget, site layouts and staffing impacts.

Assistant Chief Ruth Kate said the current approved capital budget for the project is $41,296,000 and the city has spent about $6.2 million to date on the property purchase, design work and permitting. She said the project team is finalizing permitting and expects to put the project out to bid once final approvals are cleared, at which point construction would take approximately 16 months.

The draft site plan presented at the meeting shows space for roughly 84 vehicle parking spaces for staff and public access, 30 additional tandem vehicle storage positions for specialized and overflow vehicles and provisions for electric vehicle charging and bicycle parking. The proposed building footprint is approximately 47,594 square feet and staff described the estimated construction cost at about $40 million; the final figure will depend on the design-build bid process.

Major Patrick Messmer told the council the new facility would consolidate evidence and impound operations now split across multiple sites and listed the staff who would relocate: National Integrated Ballistics Network technicians, fingerprint and forensic personnel, evidence and impound staff — in total roughly 51 employees. He said centralizing functions could reduce duplicative staffing and that eliminating or reclassifying eight positions over a long service life could produce multi‑million‑dollar savings when staffing and benefit trends are included.

Council members asked how the project would be funded and pressed for strategies to minimize borrowing costs. Councilman Mike Maniscalco said he hoped the city would avoid bonding if possible and explore CIT (Community Investment Tax) funds and other revenue to limit interest expense. Assistant Chief Kate and staff said funding options and a final procurement strategy will be worked through in future budget and project steps.

Why it matters: The facility will house evidence storage, forensics functions and impound operations that are critical to criminal investigations and post-conviction review. Supporters argue consolidation improves chain-of-custody controls and can reduce long-term operating costs.

What happened next: Staff reported final permits are under review and said the project would go to bid after permitting; no new funding action was taken during the update. Council members asked staff to return with funding scenarios and to consider minimizing bonding if alternate funding is available.

Background: The city purchased the Howard Avenue property earlier in the fiscal program; design and project work have proceeded while the city refines an approach to procurement and funding. Officials said the project is an update to aging workspaces and a consolidation of multiple evidence and impound locations.

Looking ahead: Staff will continue through permitting and will return to council with procurement and funding recommendations. If the schedule holds, construction could begin after contract award and conclude in roughly 16 months.