Construction has started on an expansion of the Erie Police Department facility, a major project the Town Council agreed to finance in late 2025 using certificates of participation, or COPs, which will be issued in the coming months.
An email notice from the town said the police facility at 1000 Telleen Ave., near County Line Road, will remain open during construction — though the department’s public parking lot will be closed through April, and residents visiting the building for in-person services are asked to park along Telleen Avenue during that time.
The town said updates on construction will be shared through signage, emails, maps and other communications.
COP details
The Erie Town Council approved financing for the project in the fall as part of the town’s 2026 budget, adopted Nov. 18. That budget included plans to issue up to $54 million in COPs to fund two projects: up to $47 million for the public safety building and up to $7 million for unrelated underground mine mitigation work tied to the Town Center and Erie Community Center properties, according to town spokesperson Gabi Rae.
COPs are a lease-to-own financing tool that allows governments to fund large projects without voter approval. Under a COP agreement, the town makes annual lease payments from its general fund, and after payments are complete, the town fully owns the facility. The COPs provide investors shares of the lease agreement on the collateral property — in this case, the police department property — while the repayment occurs.
Although the COPs have not yet been formally issued, town officials previously approved a “reimbursement resolution” in October allowing work on the public safety facility to begin before the debt is issued, with the intent to reimburse those costs fronted by the town’s general fund once COP proceeds are received, Rae said.
Town staff estimated that the average annual payment to pay off the COPs could be about $3.4 million from the town’s general fund, and overall interest cost is estimated to be around 4.9%, although those are based on current interest rates and subject to change before the final COP amount is set, according to staff.
The total dollar amount of COPs issued could be determined in February, and the town expects to issue the certificates by early March. While the maximum amount is capped at the $54 million budgeted figure, Rae said the actual issuance could be lower and will depend on the guaranteed maximum price for the police building project, as well as the market and the town’s credit rating at the time of sale.
Apart from the police facility, mine mitigation work funded through the COPs is expected to begin in the spring.
Investment options
Details for how investors can buy into the COPs could be shared publicly by the end of the month, according to Rae.
The final COPs amount — or total amount the town is borrowing — will be broken into certificate options with different maturity years, allowing investors to choose shorter- or longer-term investments. The COPs are expected to have a 30-year final maturity period.
Erie’s annual payments from its general fund will be used to pay investors interest and to return their principal amount once certificates mature, according to a presentation from town staff. Once issued, the payment schedule and investor returns are fixed.
The town plans to issue the COPs in two separate series: a tax-exempt series to finance the public safety building and a taxable series to fund mine mitigation work near the Town Center and Erie Community Center properties.
The distinction is based on federal tax rules governing municipal debt, according to Rae. Because the public safety building serves an essential governmental function, the debt issued for that project qualifies for tax-exempt status, meaning investors do not pay federal income tax on the interest they earn — but because the mine mitigation work will benefit commercial development, it does not qualify under those same rules, and must be financed with taxable debt, Rae said.
Investors will be able to choose which series they want to purchase.
Need for expansion
The expansion of Erie’s public safety facility addresses the town’s population growth, said Lee Mathis, Erie’s police chief.
The Erie Police and Municipal Court building in September. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
When the current facility was built in 2014, the town’s population was roughly 20,000 residents and the department had 28 sworn officers, according to Mathis. Around the time it was built, the existing public safety facility was expected to be able to serve 50 officers, and the building’s design was expected to serve the town for 15-20 years.
Mathis said the department currently has 49 sworn positions.
“As the town grows, we want to be able to grow above 50, and we’ll be able to do that with the new facilities,” he said this week, adding that his vision for policing in Erie “is that we continue to grow to be able to provide the same level of service we have now to a much larger town.”
The construction on the public safety facility is planned to include renovations to the current public safety building as well as adding an about 32,000-square-foot expansion on the west side of the building, according to Mathis. The expansion will allow for more evidence storage and larger areas for patrol work, investigation and victim services, he said.
Operations could be “a little disrupted over the next couple years” as officials operate the police department “basically out of a construction zone,” Mathis said, but the department should be able to maintain services and stay open to the public “the whole time.”