DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Atlanta officials said the cost to taxpayers for the new public safety training center project has risen by more than $30 million.
But they also explained the added up-front costs get wiped out by lowered financial costs attributable to use of the facility.
On Monday, the Atlanta City Council is expected to approve some $30 million to help pay for construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, due to take root on city-owned property southeast of the Atlanta city limits in DeKalb County.
When the city starts using the site -- it will also make $1.2 million payments annually to the Atlanta Police Foundation, which is financing the project, to lease the buildings for 30 years. That's a total of $36 million, in addition to the $30 million due for council approval Monday.
But Atlanta officials explained the annual payments actually represent savings for taxpayers.
A city spokesman said Atlanta currently pays about $1.4 million annually to lease space at a variety of public safety training centers around north Georgia. The $1.2 million lease, they say, will save taxpayers about $200,000 per year. The the lease expires after 30 years, at which point the city will own the facility, clear of debt.
"Based on the math it is a good deal," said city councilman Michael Julian Bond Wednesday. "All the debt will be free and clear after that time. And the city will take whole ownership of the entire facility."
Still, the annual payments have caught some critics of the project by surprise. They view the whole project as hopelessly flawed -- in the wrong location for the wrong purpose.
Bond said the details of the annual payments only emerged last week.
"But the concept of the lease back has been, to my knowledge, always been kind of part of the briefings," he said. "But apparently not everybody got the same information. And that’s unfortunate because these details should have been disclosed more thoroughly up front."
City officials said the city council approved the framework for the annual payments in 2021. The vote Monday will follow what is expected to be extended public commentary from opponents of the project.