Muncie City Council has many questions about fire station construction funding, again
Muncie city council members continue to be worried about how the city will pay for the construction of a proposed new fire station. IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.
“You know, it’s evident this council wants to see this happen. But we have to be good stewards of city and taxpayer’s dollars.”
Muncie city council members say they are in agreement with council member Harold Mason, Jr. They are the second elected council to consider the cost of replacing Fire Station 6 at McCullough Park and how the city will pay for it.
Read More: Muncie council tables proposal to build new McCullough Park fire station
Introducing the ordinance at Monday’s meeting, Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour wants to pay for an already announced $8 million proposal with municipal bonds.
Ridenour has been reluctant to borrow money for other projects in the city, like paving major roads. For this project, he says repayment money will come from the EDIT tax fund he controls as mayor and an EMS fund controlled by the fire department.
“And I also want to make it clear that no other city department will be getting reduced funding because of the EDIT funds paying for this.”
Council member Nora Powell says the bond agreement includes a provision to use a “property tax levy” to pay for the bonds if those existing funds run out of money. She asked Ridenour for assurances several times that the city won’t need to raise taxes.
“Because I know that that’s happened, not in your administration, but in the past that has happened, where, unfortunately, the bond wasn’t covered by the initial entity that was supposed to cover it.”
Council members also had differing opinions on whether or not the $8 million price tag for one new fire station is too expensive, given all city stations need replacement or renovations.
The bond ordinance will be up for second reading next month.
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.
