- March 2, 2025
The numbers have been crunched. For about $9 million, Palm Coast could have a new, 40,000-square-foot City Hall.
That’s what city staff presented to the Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday. And after years of discussion and various proposals, the decision to build a new City Hall or not could be made next Tuesday.
The money
Earlier this year, the city began discussions on a new City Hall after six former elected officials asked the current City Council to institute a commission to look at viable options.
The commission was never formed, but staff was directed to look at ways to build a City Hall without raising taxes.
In July, City Manager Jim Landon presented the option that would have Town Center landowners and building owners pay for construction of a City Hall through property taxes.
Currently, the city pays about $250,000 a year — or $1.37 million in the past six years — in rent at City Marketplace. The estimated rent payments over the next six years, according to Finance Director Chris Quinn, are about $1.44 million through 2019 and another $1.51 million from 2019 through 2024.
“It’s not a small amount,” Quinn said. “I think it’s an important part of the discussion. The only thing we have to show for that (money) is a box of rent receipts at the end of the day.”
There are three main funding sources for the proposed construction. First is the repayment of a $5.8 million loan that the city originally made to the Town Center Community Redevelopment Area. The CRA pays 5% interest on that loan right now. The city is now proposing to call that loan due and have the CRA then get another loan at a lower rate from the bank.
The second source of funding is about $1.1 million in excess funds from the city's building department, which collects fees for building permits.
The third source will be additional taxes collected in the next few years from property owners located in the Town Center CRA. That is projected to be about $2.2 million.
The space
The space, shape and appearance of a new City Hall have been a large part of the discussion. There were no official renderings presented at Tuesday’s workshop, but a general idea was discussed.
About $6.9 million is needed to build the 32,000 square feet of offices in the two-story City Hall, which includes the following departments: planning, building, code enforcement, customer service, business tax receipts, the Business Assistance Center and human resources. It also includes public areas and support space. That construction will be funded by the repaid CRA loan and the building permit fund.
Then there are the Central Park community areas, which include community meeting rooms, the City Council chambers and additional parking. That area, which is about 8,000 square feet, will cost about $2.19 million and will be paid for by future Town Center CRA money when it becomes available.
The City Council’s regular meetings would continue to take place at the Community Center until those funds are available, which could be 2016 or 2017.
Much of the furniture is included in the proposed costs, but officials said city crews would be in charge of bringing over anything from City Marketplace to the new building.
The council
The City Council on Tuesday appeared to be split on the project. City Councilmen Bill Lewis and Jason DeLorenzo appeared to be in favor of the idea. Mayor Jon Netts favored the idea, too. But City Councilmen David Ferguson and Bill McGuire appeared to be most skeptical, with McGuire asking several questions.
One question McGuire had, for example, was if the city decided not to spend the refinanced money (about $6.9 million) on City Hall, how else could it be spent?
The money could be spent on anything the City Council wants to spend it on, such as other capital projects, Quinn said. But building City Hall directly saves the city money, which can be spent on those projects anyway.
“I think one of the things to keep in mind is if we were to use (the money) for (City Hall), it has a direct effect on the general fund because you’re not paying rent anymore,” Quinn said.
Currently, rent is being paid for by the taxpayers. And, under the latest City Hall proposal, taxes would not be increased.
Lewis said the opportunity to build a new City Hall with the help of CRA funds may not come again.
“We might be stuck with the taxpayers paying rent,” Lewis said. “I think it’s worthwhile looking at something like this.”
Landon called the opportunity “unique.”
Still, McGuire didn’t appear to be sold, although he praised the presentation and said the numbers “looked good.” He said there continues to be a bad taste in citizens’ mouths in regard to building a new City Hall.
“I know that when I walk out the door, this is going to be a real (public relations) issue,” McGuire said. “You better put your ducks in a row and be ready to sell this to the public.”
The timeline
The City Council agreed to put the proposed project on its Nov. 19 regular meeting agenda, which will be 9 a.m. at the Community Center. Public comment will be heard, and the council will then decide whether to vote or take more time with the issue.
If approved, design on the project would take place next year, from January until August.
Bidding on the project would then take place in September 2014, with construction to take place November 2014 through September 2015.
If all goes according to schedule, occupancy would take place by October 2015.
