Hey, big spenders
Hollywood to spend $240K to find out if residents want city to borrow $165M
Two South Florida cities are hoping to splash the cash to make some big dreams come true — if voters say yes.
Fort Lauderdale has its eye on $200 million for improvements to city parks, and $100 million for a new police station.
And Hollywood has grand plans for a new police HQ, prettier parks and better sea walls. Price tag: $165 million.
HOLLYWOOD – Hollywood has grand plans for a new police headquarters, prettier parks and better barrier walls to protect against rising seas.
But it won’t come free. The wish list — which includes upgrades to two cityowned golf courses — will cost an estimated $165 million and require buy-in from residents.
Hollywood voters will have the final say in a special election on March 12, commissioners agreed Wednesday. The special election will cost $240,000. If voters say yes, it will mean higher property taxes citywide over the next 25 years.
For a home with a taxable value of $165,000, the increase in property taxes would be about $106 a year for 25 years, city officials say. A home with a taxable value of $300,000 would pay an extra $192 a year.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a pot full of gold that we can just go and do these things,” Commissioner Traci Callari said before Wednesday’s vote. “We need community buy-in.”
Commissioner Kevin Biederman said he was worried the city would spend $240,000 on a special election only to see voters reject the plan to borrow millions.
“I think it’s unfair to burden the residents,” he said. “But if the residents want to vote for it, who am I to tell them no.”
Three separate bond issues will appear on the ballot: $78 million for a new police station and fire equipment; $64 million to upgrade two city golf courses, buy the closed Sunset Golf Course and spruce up parks throughout Hollywood; and $23 million for traffic calming, sound walls and other improvements throughout the city’s neighborhoods.
Voters can approve one, two, all three, or none at all.
The new police station would come with a 450-space parking garage. At 120,000 square feet, it would be much bigger than the current building, which was built in 1975 and is only 76,000 square feet.
The bond would also help pay for a $14 million project to build sea walls along the Intracoastal Waterway.
It would also bring substantial upgrades to the Orangebrook Golf Course and Hollywood Beach Golf Course for a total cost of $38 million.
Orangebrook would be transformed into an 18-hole
championship course and an 18-hole par-three course for $25 million.
The 18-hole Hollywood Beach Golf Course would also get $13 million in upgrades.
Hollywood would spend $12 million to purchase the Sunset Golf Course and convert the land into a neighborhood park, safe from developers.
“The question is simple,” Commissioner Peter Hernandez said. “Is it worth $10 a month to have these improvements?”
Terry Cantrell, president of the Hollywood Lakes Civic Association, promised to do his part to sell residents on the plan.
“We’re going to sell this,” he said.
Cantrell and other supporters of the bond pointed to Fort Lauderdale, where commissioners plan to ask voters in March for permission to borrow $200 million to fix up city parks. Fort Lauderdale also wants to borrow $100 million for a new police station.
Hollywood activist Patricia Antrican also told commissioners she plans to do her part to talk homeowners into voting for the bond.
“This is our time to shine,” she said. “We are not Miami. We are not Fort Lauderdale. We are not Hallandale.”
In November, voters agreed to raise the sales tax in Broward to pay for transportation projects. They also agreed to hike property taxes to pay for teacher raises, school resource officers and student mental health services. In 2014, voters agreed to raise property taxes for $800 million in Broward school improvements.