Pembroke Pines commission backs plan for new public safety complex, agrees to town halls on financing

The Pembroke Pines City Commission on May 26 voted unanimously to support the design, construction and future funding of a police-fire public safety complex and authorized staff to present the project and several financing options to residents at a series of town-hall meetings.

Mayor Castillo opened the meeting by stressing that the commission must speak with one voice before taking the question to voters and that he would withhold support if the panel was not unified. "If we're gonna have nine town hall meetings ... there'd be some showing of support on the part of this commission," he said.

City Manager Sam Dodge told the commission staff believes the full development cost of the project is roughly $155 million as presented by the architect, but that ongoing value engineering and internal funding could reduce how much the city needs to borrow. "Actual costs are $135,000,000," Dodge said, and he recommended the ballot ask be framed so the city would request no more than $80,000,000 in bonds while using other city resources and further cost reductions to cover the total scope.

Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Lisa Chung presented example taxpayer impacts for three borrowing scenarios using a 30-year fixed-rate assumption. For a median taxable value she showed an approximate monthly cost of about $8 for a $155 million general obligation issue and about $4 for an $80 million issue, and said the administration would publish an online calculator so residents could estimate their own impacts.

The commission heard from municipal advisor Jerry Ford on the relative costs and legal characteristics of different financing options. Ford said general obligation (GO) bonds are typically the lowest-cost choice because they are backed by the property-tax base and provide a separate, voter-authorized revenue stream. By contrast he warned that alternatives such as covenant-to-budget-appropriate (CBNA) or lease/lease-purchase structures carry higher interest costs and additional risks tied to annual appropriation. "When you want to use your property taxes to pay off debt ... it has to be approved by the voters," Ford told the panel, noting GO bonds lso generally yield lower interest rates.

Commissioners pressed administration on the fiscal mechanics and timing. Several said they wanted more clarity about how the administration would replace the difference between any smaller bond ask and the total project cost before bringing a final ballot resolution back to the dais. Commissioners also agreed not to pin the town-hall presentations to a single dollar figure, instead instructing staff to explain the project need, show the architect's design and lay out a set of funding alternatives (GO bond, CBNA, pledged-revenue structures, lease/lease-purchase, and potential asset sales) so residents could provide informed feedback.

The commission adopted Resolution 2026R-09, amended to refer explicitly to "future funding" of the complex, by a unanimous vote. Commissioner Good moved the resolution and Commissioner Rodriguez seconded.

Next steps: staff will present the architect's design and the range of financing options at the scheduled town halls and post explanatory materials and the calculator on the city's website. The bond-authority draft resolution (item 2 on the agenda) was deferred so the manager and staff can return with refined financing numbers and scenarios for the commission to consider before any ballot placement.