The Quincy City Council approved spending an extra $23 million to finish the new public safety building, bringing the total cost to $143 million.
Officials blamed the cost overrun primarily on inflation.
The vote at the Nov. 21 Council meeting was 7 to 1, with Councilor Anne Mahoney voting against the spending. She said she supported the police but objected to the administration’s failure to use federal COVID relief money to avoid passing the entire cost to taxpayers. Mahoney also questioned whether the design had been revised to save money.
Quincy received $46 million in COVID aid.
Eric Mason, Quincy’s chief financial officer, estimated that the extra $23 million would cost the average residential property owner about $38 a year over 30 years. The entire project — including money spent to buy the property and get it ready for development — will add about $287 annually to the average property tax bill, he said.
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Councilor Charles Phelan, who chairs the Finance Committee, said he voted for the extra money because the project was “long overdue and it is time to finish this job. Are we going to leave it half-finished?
“Inflation basically has hit everyone,” he said.
The four-story, 118,000-square-foot building is under construction at the intersection of the Southern Artery and Broad Street.
The building will house the police station, administrative offices for the fire department, a firearm training range, and a 911 dispatch center.
Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.