Saratoga Springs police leaders told the City Council on May 20 that the department’s facilities, technology and staffing have outgrown a roughly 9,000-square-foot footprint in the City Hall annex and argued the city should build a standalone police station near Lake and Maple avenues.

Chief Tyler McIntosh and Assistant Chief Eric Warfield presented a concept and past studies tracing the need back decades, and said a modern station is necessary for officer and public safety, operational efficiency and preservation of critical technology systems. “We we certainly appreciate the opportunity to continue the discussion regarding the the well overdue new police department facility,” McIntosh said.

The proposal shows a roughly 30,474 gross-square-foot building with a base construction estimate of about $15.2 million. After design contingencies, escalation and soft costs, police and consultants placed the total project estimate in the mid‑$20 million range; presenters cited roughly $24 million to $26 million as a planning figure. The department has spent about $33,000 on concept development to date and was approved for $500,000 to continue the design phase; a schematic design contract was reported at $214,500. If the schedule holds, construction could begin in October 2026, the presentation said.

Warfield described how the current layout impedes operations: interview rooms used inconsistently, training space that doubles as a roll call and report-writing room, cramped vault and evidence storage, inadequate locker and wellness space, and no secure vehicle sally port. “Fundamentally, the biggest problem we have with our police department is that no matter how many times you renovate 9,000 square feet, you can't turn it into 30,000 square feet,” Warfield said. He pointed to recent incidents—including a February shooting at the current station’s Lake Avenue entrance—as examples of increased operational risk.

City staff and consultants recounted past planning: concept designs surfaced in 2003 and 2008, and multiple studies from local and state entities since the 1970s concluded the existing footprint is inadequate. The presenters said the Lake/Maple site has been used in multiple prior concepts and is centrally located downtown.

The council pressed practical questions about cost and financing. Municipal financial adviser Andy Watkins, who reviewed the city's credit profile, noted Standard & Poor’s affirmed Saratoga Springs’ AA+ rating the prior week, and warned that adding long-term debt would exert downward pressure on that rating depending on scale and timing. “We did, last week, S and P affirmed the double a plus rating on the city,” Watkins said during his briefing on how bond issuances work and how ratings factor into interest costs. Staff estimated the project would most likely be financed in stages (short-term bond anticipation notes during construction followed by permanent bonds), and gave a rough annual debt‑service increase in planning materials of about $1.4 million for a $25 million borrowing, an amount council members and the finance commissioner said would need to be balanced with other planned obligations.

Council members acknowledged safety and operational concerns but raised competing infrastructure priorities. One councilor asked whether other city facilities could be moved or reconfigured to reduce cost; the mayor and police leaders said renovating the existing annex would not accommodate the required secure sally port and other operational needs and could cost as much as constructing a new facility. The presentation also included a recommendation from the city’s insurer, New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NIMER), that the department relocate and provide a secure drive-in sally port to reduce liability exposure.

Councilors asked for copies of the most recent needs assessment and additional details about funding sources, maintenance impacts and whether alternative city-owned sites could be used. The presentation team said LaBella (the consultant under contract) had performed recent building scans and that the schematic design phase would continue with community and council briefings scheduled through the summer.

The council did not take a vote on the project tonight. The discussion closed with agreement to continue public briefings, gather more precise financing scenarios and present refined cost estimates and site options to the council before any commitment of city bonding or authorization.