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Council debates $50 million police-facility bond; members cite unknown ancillary costs and site concerns
Summary
Council considered calling a Nov. 3, 2026 special election for a $50 million general obligation bond to plan, design and build public safety facilities. Staff described a staged $30M/$20M issuance and estimated a roughly 6.2¢ tax-rate increase; council members raised questions about ancillary costs, drainage at the proposed site, lost grant opportunities and the need for more analysis before voters decide.
City staff presented a proposed ordinance calling a special election for a $50,000,000 proposition to build a new public safety/police facility and related public purposes. Bond counsel read the ordinance language aloud: "Shall the city council, the city of Duncanville, Texas be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the city in the amount of $50,000,000 for permanent public improvements and public purposes to with the planning, designing, constructing, renovating, repairing, replacing, improving, expanding, and equipment, public safety facilities, and the acquisition of any needed land and right of way thereof."
Staff and the city’s financial adviser outlined an issuance plan that assumed issuing approximately $30,000,000 in 2027 and $20,000,000 in 2028 and estimated that, under those assumptions, the debt would add about 6.22 cents to the tax rate. The adviser also noted the model used a lower growth-rate assumption (2% vs. an earlier 3%). Staff pointed the council to the voter-information exhibit in the ordinance, which lists outstanding principal; staff stated the principal outstanding is $28,015,000.
Councilors voiced multiple concerns before voting. Public commenter Barry Gordon said "the true cost of a new police station is closer to $60,000,000 rather than just the $50,000,000 in debt," urging "extraordinary due diligence." A council member said the city had missed an opportunity to apply for a grant and urged staff to pursue additional revenue sources including public-private partnership options. Several members raised site-specific risks, including known drainage problems under part of the building footprint; one councilor asked staff to complete engineering work on drainage before asking voters to authorize bonds.
Council took a motion to call the election and held a roll-call vote. The roll-call transcript records multiple 'no' votes (including by the mayor and several council members). Council concluded the item will require further workshops and additional information before sending it to voters.
Next steps: staff and council agreed to schedule in-depth workshops to resolve the outstanding questions on ancillary costs, drainage and financing assumptions before moving forward with any bond-call ordinance to the voters.
