NOVI, Mich. (WXYZ) — People living in Novi are being asked to approve a $120 million ballot proposal that includes building a new headquarters for police and fire.
And here's the bottom line for taxpayers: for a home valued at $250,000 with taxable value of $125,000, it would mean an increase of $125 a year.
"We're now ready to present this to our residents and hopefully move forward," Novi Chief of Police Erick Zinser said.
Zinser showed me around their current police station, built in 1980, to give me a better look at why a new space is needed.
"At that time, our population was around 22,000 people. I think we've tripled since then," he said.
As the city and first responder workforce have grown, Zinser says they've outgrown the spaces.
"We've moved walls, we've created offices out of closets. We have one locker room that we've transformed from a single-use bathroom into a multi-use locker room because we're out of space," the chief said.
"We've just outgrown it. It is no longer adaptable to current policing standards. It's no longer adaptable to our staffing levels we have now... we don't have any more room in the men's locker and we don't have any more room in the women's locker room."
Zinser said the same is true for the Novi Fire Department. Their stations were also built around the same time.
"Some of them have no female facilities. One of them has limited, very limited... bathrooms, showers, locker rooms for female employees," he said. "We don't have any decontamination zones."
And that's just some of the concerns they hope to address with the passage of the $120 million bond initiative that would pay for a new public safety complex, bringing together police and fire at 11 Mile Road and Lee Begole Drive. The city says the funds would go toward road work, new buildings for fire stations 2 and 3 and improvements to station 4, along with equipment and modern technology.
"So we pride ourselves on service and quality and we want to be open and transparent on the education about the project, so everybody has a full understanding of what they are going to be voting on in August," Zinser said.
For a home with a taxable value of $200,000, the impact on their taxes would be an additional $200 a year starting in 2026.
"Nobody ever likes tax increases. And you know, as a mortgage broker, I get an intimate look at people's finances really on a daily basis and I see the struggles firsthand that the people in our community and all over the country are facing," homeowner Marc Jappaya said.
Despite the increase, Jappaya said he plans to support it.
"I think to be able to continue to provide the public safety services that the businesses and the residents in the city not only deserve but expect, I think the bond proposal and the investment is not just beneficial, but it's necessary. And so I'm behind it," Jappaya said.
Joyce, another Novi voter, says "I don't think there's any price on safety, so if it improves safety, of course, I will be all for it."
Designing will start in the fall if approved, with construction beginning in 2026 for a total of five years.
To learn more, visit the city's dedicated page online.
