Taunton votes yes on new public safety complex. How will the debt exclusion work?

The people have Taunton have spoken: the city will get a new public safety building complex for its police and fire departments.

According to unofficial results from the city's Elections Department, the special referendum vote proposing to pay for the new building through a 30-year debt exclusion received 65.64% of the votes cast.

The makeup of the vote is 1,868 Yes votes, 972 No votes, and 6 blanks.

2,846 votes total were cast for the special referendum, including early voting dates. With a total base of 38,979 for Taunton, 7.3% of registered voters came out to cast a ballot.

Under the proposal, the new public safety complex will be located on the 45 acre property at 90 County St., which the city purchased from Sisters of St. Dorothy in 2021. The project consists of three buildings — with the main building housing the Police Department and the Fire Department’s headquarters, currently housed in the Central Fire Station on School Street.

This debt exclusion will raise property taxes for the average home by $156 annually, or $13 a month. That's 39 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, with the average home assessment being $400,000, according to the project manager, P3 Professionals, and the city’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Della Russo.

Debt exclusion: Voters decide fate of Taunton public safety complex. Here's what it will cost taxpayers

This debt exclusion will commence in FY 2024, but by FY 2029, debt service costs for homeowners will drop indirectly via an offsetting reduction in the amount homes are still paying for the $112 million borrowed for Taunton High School’s renovations, completed in 2011. This means that, after five years, homeowners will be paying $36 less per year of debt overall.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton voters decide on public safety building for police and fire