Urbandale voters weighed in Tuesday on a $25 million bond measure to replace the city's aging police station, a proposal that needed at least 60% approval to pass. Early unofficial results from both counties that cover the city showed support clearing that threshold, though the counts were incomplete at the time they were reported.
At midnight on Tuesday, unofficial Dallas County results showed 62.4% of voters favoring the bond and 37.7% opposed, according to The Des Moines Register, though zero of the county's five precincts had reported at that point. In Polk County, where all 12 precincts had been counted, unofficial returns showed 62.7% approval and 37.4% opposition, the paper reported. The measure needed at least 60% approval from voters to pass, per the same account.
Why Urbandale Says It Has Outgrown Its 1982 Station
The city's case for a new building rests on decades of growth. Urbandale's current police station, located at 3740 86th St., was built in 1982 to serve a department of 26 officers and roughly 18,000 residents, the station notes on its website, according to the City of Urbandale. The department has since grown to 62 officers serving almost 50,000 residents, the city said, a figure the Register also cited in reporting that the existing building was built for a much smaller force. City officials have said the current station lacks the capacity for present-day operations and the growth the department expects ahead, and a previous space needs study found that continued additions to the existing building would not be feasible.
If the bond is approved, the city plans to build a 95,000-square-foot station on city-owned property at the southwest corner of Douglas Avenue and 100th Street, per the city's statement. Plans call for training space, a firearms range, evidence storage, offices, locker rooms and secure parking. The four-acre site was previously occupied by Dynamite Marketing Inc., which demolished and removed a metal-sided office building, warehouse, sheds, storage silos and underground concrete slabs from the property around May 2020 after moving its operations to Idaho and putting the land up for sale, according to business records cited in the reporting. The Urbandale City Council approved buying the property for $2.5 million in May 2024, and the city has described the site as having been considered blighted because of its poor condition.
How The City Plans To Pay For It Without Raising Tax Rates
The proposed station carries an estimated price tag of $60 million. Under the city's financing plan, $25 million would come from the bonds on the ballot, another $25 million from revenue generated by the Northwest Market Center tax increment financing district, and $10 million from city reserves and local-option sales-tax revenue, the City of Urbandale said. City officials have said the structure was designed to fund the project without raising Urbandale's property tax rate.
Urbandale Mayor Robert Andeweg said property tax increases could be avoided through careful planning and combining multiple funding sources. Urbandale Police Chief Rob Johansen said a modern station would provide the space and infrastructure needed for both current and future community needs. If voters approve the bond, it would be repaid within approximately 15 years, according to the city, a timeline the Register also reported as 15 years or less.
