El Centro finalizes Measure P funds

EL CENTRO — El Centro Council unanimously voted to approve the first round of retail tax generated funds from Measure P for various projects during a regular meeting here Tuesday. To date, Measure P has generated about $3.1 million and is expected to climb to about $5 million by April. Measure P was approved by El Centro voters and increased the sales tax from 8 percent to 8.5 percent. The increase went into effect April 1. While council has previously said it plans to move forward with a new police station, Tuesday’s allocation of funds were for other projects, including for improvements of the El Centro library located at the Valley Centerpoint Shopping Center.

Other projects include information technology infrastructure upgrades, Bucklin Park renovation, parking improvement at various areas and more.

“We are off and running,” said El Centro Mayor Cheryl Viegas-Walker, which was answered with applause by the audience and Council.

The goal for the council was to use the already-collected monies to have projects shovel-ready to ensure they get underway as soon as the bond funds become available.

Once the initial stages of these projects are completed, the city is expected to seek a $66 million bond.

Initial feasibility studies for the police station and library have already been funded, though those projects will not be fully funded until the city goes out for a bond. Currently, it is estimated that a new police station would cost approximately $28 million, while the Valley Centerpoint Shopping Center redevelopment, which will include the new library, is estimated at $20 million.

An additional $1.7 million needed for the design and engineering study for the new police station is expected to be funded with the Measure P revenue expected to come in by April, which will allow the city to have solid figures on how much the police station will cost.