Boca Raton Police Headquarters $125M Referendum Won’t Include Location

The proposed location of a new police headquarters building in Boca Raton, FL, near the Spanish River Library. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

The Boca Raton city council has approved a referendum to ask residents for $125 million to fund a new police headquarters, but some residents expressed uneasiness since the location won’t be decided until after the election.

The question will appear on the March 9, 2027 municipal election ballot, which will also feature races for two council seats. Voters earlier this year rejected a $175 million ballot referendum that would have funded a police headquarters adjacent to the Spanish River Library. The $125 million bonding would fund a new headquarters somewhere in town, with the price difference largely being linked to the construction of a building that serves present needs instead of the potential needs decades in the future, which was a facet of the failed effort last year.

While the referendum will ask voters to approve the project’s financing, the location of the building – or buildings – will not appear within the text of the question. The question mentions a downtown police facility but does not name a site for the headquarters, meaning, theoretically, a new headquarters could be built downtown, or a substation could be built downtown with the main location located elsewhere. A memo from City Manager Mark Sohaney said staff weighed several city-owned properties, including 6500 Congress Avenue and a downtown study area east of Second Avenue. Two preserve properties were also on the list.

The lack of a location led some residents to doubt whether voters will support the measure.

“I think this is doomed,” said resident Richard Warner. “You didn’t learn from the last attempt, and you still don’t seem to get it. The people are very hesitant about trusting you guys.”

Last year’s proposal sought up to $175 million for a facility of about 165,000 square feet. The new plan shrinks the building to roughly 100,000 square feet and is based on the department’s current needs rather than projected needs through 2045.

“I think you’re going to find that the language that you allowed to be put in this will cause you to lose,” Warner said. “The people of the city, I suspect overwhelmingly, want the police station downtown – and they want you to tell them it’s going to be there. They don’t want a vague promise: ‘We’ll take the money and tell you what we’re going to do.’ That trust went out the window a year and-a-half ago.”

The city government campus and Memorial Park redevelopment area, Boca Raton, FL, Oct. 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Another resident said the council should make a choice now and put their proposal up for a vote.

“If you choose the site before the referendum, you can secure the language now, and when people go to vote they’ll know where it’s going,” said Martin Bell.

The city’s current estimate for the revised project is about $121.08 million, down from $190 million. The memo also says staff estimates the actual cost of building at $65 million to $90 million. The current headquarters at 100 NW Boca Raton Boulevard opened in 1986 and was expanded in 2001. City officials say it is undersized and is not hurricane-rated, so it must be evacuated during a major storm. When it opened, the city had about 58,800 residents and the police department about 145 employees. Today the city has about 103,000 residents and the department about 331 employees.

City financial staff estimate the bonds would add about 0.1904 mills to the property tax rate. That would cost the owner of an average residential property about $100.92 a year. The city’s Financial Advisory Board voted unanimously to recommend the referendum. The board said its recommendation covered only the financing, not the location, scope, cost or timing of the project.

A city-commissioned poll of 256 likely voters, conducted Aug. 1-16, found 56 percent initially supported building a new headquarters. After hearing more about the existing building and the department’s needs, 77 percent did. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 6.1 percentage points. About 200 residents attended two community sessions in August and September. Many said they wanted more detail on the site and scope before a vote.

Boca Raton Police Car (Photo: Boca Daily News)

The ballot will carry the title “Boca Raton Police Department Headquarters and Public Safety Facilities Project.” Voters will be asked this question, which the resolution says must appear in substantially this form:

“Shall the City issue general obligation bonds, in one or more series, not exceeding $125,000,000, to finance the replacement of the City’s aging and undersized police headquarters with a new headquarters, 911 communications center, evidence storage, and related facilities and equipment, and a dedicated downtown police facility, bearing interest within maximum lawful rates, maturing not later than 30 years from issuance, and payable from ad valorem taxes levied on all taxable property in the City?”

Voters will choose between “For Bonds” and “Against Bonds.”