Both are needed to address the growing population, said Bryan Hugghins, executive director of police, public works and information services. The animal shelter would increase the number of animals the strained animal services department is able to care for, while the public safety facility would expand public safety services to the southern portion of the city.
“It provides all three first response services out of that one facility, which we currently do not have anywhere else in the city,” Hugghins said.
The combined cost of the propositions is around $26.1 million. If approved, the tax rate for homeowners could increase.
The overview
The public safety facility would allow police and fire to better split resources across the city by having access to a space near I-10, City Manager Wayne Reed said.
Reed said the public safety facility would be the first project to start, with construction expected to begin in 2025.
An expansion of animal services would allow staff to hold more animals and have better medical treatment for sick intakes.
Since the construction of the current animal shelter in 2009, the city has increased in population by around 81%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The animal services facility is projected to start construction in 2026, should the propositions be approved by voters.
A maximum of $0.0316 could be added to the tax rate following the sale of bonds, according to city documents.
Some context
The public safety facility would act as the fourth fire station in Cibolo and include a police substation and EMS services, Hugghins said.
Constructing a facility in the southern portion of the city would allow units to reduce response times to around five minutes, rather than the estimated 11-minute response time from Fire Station No. 1, which is the closest station to the area.
Police Chief Thedrick Andres said officers can be divided by region to better serve the city.
“It puts us in that area, and it gives that community services that they depend on,” Andres said.
Alongside a reduction in response times, the facility could result in lower insurance premiums due to improving the Insurance Services Office rating, which scores the fire department based on organization standards. This data is shared with insurance companies to determine premiums.
This change could result in lower insurance premiums for residents by around 9%, according to data on the city website.
What else?
The current animal shelter was constructed in 2009 when the city population was around 22,000. There has been very little expansion at the shelter since then, Hugghins said.
Animal Services Manager Janette Wilson said the current shelter has 12 kennels for dogs and 14 kennels for cats. Of those 14 cat cages, six are used for isolation of sick cats or neonatal kittens unavailable for adoption.
Between January and August, the shelter has had 563 intakes. Increased intakes have caused the shelter to be full on a regular basis, causing the city to need more space to accommodate animal intakes by outsourcing care through other area shelters, Hugghins said.
The new space would include rooms for medical use, storage and staff offices, plus expanded rooms for animals.
Hugghins said the expansion of services would allow the shelter to maintain a no-kill status and ensure sick animals receive the appropriate care.
“[The shelter] provides us with the ability to take better care of these animals in-house, rather than having to outsource some of the stuff we do now,” he said.
With the expansion, the shelter is expected to last 20-30 years and be expandable to accommodate future population growth.
“We are looking to the future so we don’t have to go back 10 years from now and build another one,” Hugghins said.
The cost
The two propositions would result in a maximum tax rate increase of $0.0316 per $100 valuation, according to the city website.
On a home valued at the Cibolo average of $350,621, this increase would result in a maximum of around $110 annually in additional taxes.
A voter-approval tax rate election is also being held to increase the city tax rate to $0.499 per $100 valuation.
While the VATRE and bond propositions are separate ballot items, both come with a potential tax rate increase.
Even if the VATRE and propositions fail, residents are likely to see a tax rate increase compared to fiscal year 2023-24 rate of $0.4699 per $100 valuation.
Reed said that fast-growing cities can outpace debt capacity, resulting in a lower tax rate impact to residents.
“That tax increase only takes effect if debt is issued,” Reed said. “And it would only take effect if council says they will raise taxes for this because they still have the option of doing the facilities [at] our current tax rate.”•
