Manteca has $22 million as a downpayment on a proposed $56 million state-of-the-art facility to replace the city’s 48-year-old aging, cramped, and insufficient police station.

If the 20-year long Measure Q three-quarter of a cent sales tax hike passes on Nov. 5, the estimated annual revenue of $13 million will be used to leverage a bond to allow the police facility to be built.

That is in addition to other public safety needs such as building a sixth fire station, providing 24/7 staffing for that station, road work, and other needs.

City officials have committed to pursuing any available state and federal grants available to build a new police station to reduce the burden on local taxpayers.

Typically, having a revenue source such as a sales tax helps leverage such grants.

As an example, the Measure K  countywide half cent sales  tax was used to leverage the $496 million Highway 99 widening project in 2011 from the Crosstown Freeway in Stockton to Yosemite Avenue in Manteca.

The Proposition 1B bond project would not have moved forward without a local match that secured more than $400 million in state funds for the upgrades in the 13.1-mile long corridor.

Any grant funding the city can obtain for the police station planned for 1.98 acres north of the Big League Dreams sports complex where the future extensions of Milo Candini Drive and Wawona Street will intersect will reduce the amount of money needed to be borrowed for the project.

The $22 million represents the current balance in a government facilities fee collected on growth.

The per square foot charge for new construction varies on the category — residential, commercial, office, and industrial — and sub-categories such as low density to multiple family for residential.

An example of the fees paid by growth can be demonstrated by using low density residential — the zoning that yields the most homes overall in Manteca with between four to seven per acre.

The current government facilities fee is $2.48 per square foot. It translates into $496 for a new 2,000 square-foot house.

The council on Tuesday took an item off the agenda to increase the fee by 27 percent to $3.16 a square foot. That would translate into $632 for a new 2,000 square-foot house.

It was done after the Building Industry Association of the Great Valley questioned some of the justifications for the 27 percent fee increase.

The BIA represents the home building industry in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

Most of the jump is based on rising construction costs that are even sharper on government structures such as a police facility and fire station that must meet even more rigid earthquake standards than the homes developers build.

City Manager Toni Lundgren expects to have the proposed increase for the government facilities fee back on the next agenda for council consideration.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com