TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — Temple Terrace voters overwhelmingly approved a $50 million bond referendum to build a new public safety complex for police and Fire Station 3 during Tuesday’s election.
The referendum needed just more than 50% of the vote to pass and received 60% support. The project will replace the Temple Terrace Police Department’s current space on the third floor of City Hall, where officers have worked since the 1970s.
“I was really happy because this has been a project that we’ve been working on for the last, I’d say, 40 years,” Temple Terrace Police Chief Rob Staley said.
Staley said the need for a new facility has grown as the department has added officers to serve the city’s growing population.
“So, our evidence room is consuming more and more of that space to the point where engineers were telling us, ‘Listen, you can’t add too much more weight to this. You know, you’re on the third floor of a three-story building. If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up with a one-story pile of rubble,’” said Mayor Andy Ross.
According to the city, the new facility will mean faster response times, help with recruitment and retention of first responders, and support accreditation standards. It will also mean higher costs for residents. Information from the city’s website says owners of a property assessed at $200,000 will see up to $185 a year in additional taxes.
Staley said he took part in more than two dozen presentations around the community to explain the need for the project.
“I think it is a hard sell, but I think the community supports law enforcement here in Temple Terrace, and that’s clear by the vote we saw yesterday,” Staley said.
Ross said the city will not issue the bond immediately because legal steps must happen first. He said the timing will also allow the city to see whether a November ballot measure to increase the property tax exemption passes.
“We don’t definitively know how that may or may not impact us. I don’t think it will,” Ross said. “I know this is a separate line item on your TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice. However, we are waiting to see what the legislature may do for enabling that legislation if that amendment passes.”
Staley said the project still must go through architectural design before construction can begin. He said work on the new complex could wrap up sometime in 2029.
The new facility is expected to include a firing range for officers, more room to store evidence and space to process vehicles, something the department has not been able to do at City Hall.