Lafayette outlines $74M capital package for rec center, civic center and service center; council OKs polling and outreach

City staff presented Feb. 25 a package of three capital projects and financing options and recommended pursuing a general obligation bond funded by property tax; council directed staff to proceed with community polling and outreach to gauge voter support.

The projects under consideration are a recreation and aquatic center, a new civic center to replace or augment City Hall, and expansions/repairs at the city service center. Staff estimated the combined package at about $74 million and recommended a 20‑year bond structure; staff also presented alternatives using a sales‑tax increase and cautioned about sales‑tax volatility.

Deputy City Manager Davis described the package as meeting “the strategic outcomes that we’ve identified here at the city,” and said the projects respond to facilities that have been in service 30–50 years. Staff presented two options for the recreation facility (a more extensive expansion and a renovation), described accessibility and life‑safety deficiencies at City Hall (built 1985), and said the service center site is about 24,000 square feet of main facility plus a roughly 4,000‑square‑foot salt dome.

Staff presented cost estimates and financing implications: the recreation center estimate was escalated to about $34 million, the civic center about $34 million and the service center about $6 million, for a total near $74 million. A 20‑year amortization of that full package produced an approximate annual debt service of $5.9 million. On the sales‑tax side staff calculated a package would require roughly a 0.585 percentage‑point increase in the city sales tax (about 0.58%), and staff noted 1 percentage point of Lafayette sales tax generates roughly $7 million based on 2023 revenue. On the property‑tax side staff estimated the full package would require just under 7 mills; using a 2024 average home value of about $685,000, staff estimated the full package would amount to roughly $300 a year for the average homeowner.

Consultant Maddie Pronovic of Hilltop cautioned about sales‑tax volatility and the mechanics of a sales‑tax ballot measure, saying, “The other thing I'd just add is on the sales tax side, to set that sales tax rate, it doesn't change,” and noting that shortfalls would have to be covered from the general fund. Pronovic and staff explained that an unlimited‑tax general obligation bond allows the city to set a mill levy annually sufficient to meet debt service if assessed value changes.

Staff recommended pursuing a general obligation bond funded by property tax rather than a sales‑tax increase, and presented a two‑phase public engagement plan. Communications Director Wilmot described Phase 1 (April–mid‑May) as awareness, a short questionnaire, community input sessions, information kiosks and preliminary polling; Phase 2 (late June–early August) would provide deeper project detail, focused conversations with community groups and continued outreach ahead of ballot‑language certification in July/August. Staff said a statistically valid poll would cost roughly $10,000–$12,000 and typically interviews about 800–1,000 registered voters.

Council members asked about timing, impacts to staff during construction, the useful life of buildings and whether additional future capital needs would remain after this package. Several members expressed concern about relying on sales tax and said they were comfortable pursuing the property‑tax option. After discussion the council agreed to proceed with the recommended outreach and to authorize staff to begin polling and engagement with a consultant; staff will return with a draft poll and continued recommendations at an upcoming workshop. There was no formal recorded vote during the workshop; staff reported they will bring polling results and refined materials back to council for additional direction.

Next steps: staff to engage a polling consultant, present a draft poll at the March workshop, conduct Phase 1 outreach and report poll results at the May workshop; later steps include ballot language certification if council decides to move forward with a ballot question.