Tigard Forward 2050: City Facilities Modernization Project

To better serve the community, Tigard has a chance to modernize its facilities so they are more resilient, safer, and cost-effective with taxpayer dollars for the future.

The Challenge

Many of the City of Tigard’s facilities – including buildings for the Police Department, Permit Center, City Hall, Public Works, and our Emergency Operations Center are unsafe, overcrowded, and too costly to taxpayers. For example, since City Hall was constructed in mid-1980s, Tigard’s population has more than doubled. The police building was designed in the mid-1980s for 31 staff; today, the Tigard Police has far exceeded that number.

Safety:

  • There are concerns about how well the structures will fare in an earthquake and impacts on the ability of EMS personnel to serve the public.
  • Tigard’s police and public works personnel will be first responders in the case of an earthquake, but the buildings where they are currently based do not meet state requirements for "critical and essential buildings” that can help ensure first responders can deploy right away.
  • Tigard’s emergency operations center, as well as its warming and cooling centers and summer wildfire smoke shelters, are housed in a building that does not meet current earthquake safety standards.

Overcrowding:

  • The buildings were developed 30 years ago and are stretched beyond their capacity due to our community’s growth.
  • For example, Tigard's police station is nearly four decades old and is so severely overcrowded that it's actively impacting our police force's ability to recruit the high quality and diverse personnel we need to keep our neighborhoods safe.
  • The Police Department’s wiring and technology infrastructure is so out-of-date that the department cannot reliably store large amounts of data, like body-worn video.
  • Due to lack of space, police officers must conduct interviews of crime victims in public spaces, potentially placing suspects in the vicinity of their victims.

Costs to Taxpayers:

  • Each year, Tigard must fund more operational and repair costs in its budget - funds that could be invested in community priorities like public safety, and building and maintaining city roads, parks, and sidewalks.
  • For example, in the city’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget, we expect we will have to invest over $500,000 into basic maintenance, like roof repairs, for these aging facilities.
  • This is an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars and not a good strategy for Tigard’s long-term fiscal health.

A Long-Term Solution: Modernize Tigard’s Facilities to Better Serve the Community

The City of Tigard wants to serve the community with more resilient, safer, cost-effective, and modern buildings.

In place of our existing aging, expensive, and unsafe facilities that are stretched beyond their capacity, we have the opportunity to serve the community with more modern buildings that make the public safer and are a better use of taxpayer dollars and Tigard’s long-term fiscal health. This would make it more likely that essential and nonessential government services can continue after a major earthquake and other emergency events.

There are three main options:

  • Option 1: Consolidate Tigard’s existing facilities into a new modern building
  • Option 2: Build separate new facilities for the Police Department, Permit Center, City Hall, Public Works, and Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
  • Option 3: Rehab the existing building downtown

What’s Next: Listening to the Community

The city is listening to community voices to plan a solution that is the most responsible path for Tigard. That includes exploring multiple locations in Tigard, as well as models for how the city can have the resources it needs to make these long-term investments that will make the community safer and save taxpayer dollars. We’ll continue to listen to stakeholders across Tigard, to get your input in the coming months on a proposed path forward, and keep you updated.