City approves $9.7M in bonds for Public Works building renovations

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) The city on Monday officially approved the issuance of two revenue bonds to generate around $9.7 million to improve the building occupied by Public Works and Mobility on West Broadway.

The bonds include $5.4 million paid by revenues from city's water utility and $4.4 million generated from a small tax increase in the road district. The latter will cost roughly $8 annually on a home valued at $500,000.

“It's a credit to Public Works that they've managed to put more operations into that building and take further advantage of the public resource,” said City Council member Mike Nugent. “It's truly a Public Works building, not just a water space. We're now using a resource better.”

The city acquired the West Broadway building from Mountain Water after taking ownership of the water utility in 2017. But since that time, the city has expanded the building's use beyond the water system to include a larger portion of Public Works.

The remodel will add more office space, a meeting room and make it ADA accessible. It will also save the city an estimated $20 million by not having to build a new Public Works facility, which had been one option on the table.

“Several years ago, we looked at different locations to locate all of Public Works,” said council member Mirtha Becerra. “I think we're saving our taxpayers a significant amount of money by staying in a building that we're remodeling and making sure all the employees there can remain there, and we can grow our department to better serve our community and meet those public demands.”

However, Bob Campbell opposed the road district bond and using it to renovate a former water building, in part due to the interest rate the city will pay over the life of the bond.

The $5.4 million water bond over 20 years yields around $3 million in interest while the $4.4 million road district bond will yield around $2.4 million in interest, according to Campbell.

“My issue isn't with the idea of bonding, generally. But with the road district bond, I did have some concerns,” he said. “I have some concerns we're going down this slippery slope of introducing property tax revenue and there's going to be a property tax impact, albeit a minor one.”