Frequently Asked Questions: Public Safety

Golden Valley residents rely on the City to provide a wide range of essential services, such as maintaining streets, parks, and water and sewer systems and providing emergency response and public safety.

Over the past several years, the City has been assessing its aging public buildings to determine where improvements are needed. It concluded that the buildings that house the Police, Fire, and Public Works Departments can no longer adequately support the efficient delivery of City services.

That is why the City has put forward a new long-term plan that will invest $105 million for the land and construction of a new Public Works building and a new Public Safety building that will serve as the headquarters for the Police and Fire Departments.

Golden Valley’s existing Police and Fire facilities are limited in ways that reduce effectiveness and safety - especially around training, equipment storage, and staff support. The current layout lacks adequate locker rooms, restrooms, and equity in accommodations, does not allow for 24‑hour duty crews, and cannot provide proper health and safety standards for firefighters. The new Public Safety building will address these problems by creating more functional work and training spaces, improved equipment storage, and inclusive staff support facilities.

In addition, a critical upgrade is planned for firefighter staffing. The new building will include sleeping quarters and a kitchen, enabling the shift from an “on‑call” staffing model to a fully staffed 24‑hour firefighter duty crew. That change should help the City better attract and retain firefighting staff, improve response times, and ensure consistent readiness in emergencies.

The new Public Safety building will be located on the Civic Center Campus.

The Civic Center Campus Master Plan will lay out the City’s redevelopment, and once the Building Forward process is further along, the City will need to decide the viability of reuse. The City will continue to work with residents to identify opportunities and priorities for new investments.

The Public Safety Facility is part of the Civic Center Campus Master Plan. The Master Plan design team is expected to be selected in December 2025, with work to commence in early 2026 and delivery of the completed Civic Center Campus Master Plan later next year. Once the Master Plan is complete, the City will release a separate RFP for schematic design by or before summer 2027. Following this schedule, principal construction could begin as early as 2028 or 2029.

The new 1.25 percent local sales tax over a 30-year period will cover the cost of the projects as listed:

• $15 million to acquire land outside of downtown Golden Valley for a new Public Works building

• $45 million to build the new Public Works building

• $45 million to build a new Police and Fire headquarters building

Over the last seven years, the City has pursued an extensive facility needs review process to gain a better understanding of the challenges at its aging buildings.

During that time, residents played an important role in helping identify top priorities for new investments through community meetings, surveys, and a task force. The City then developed an investment plan that State lawmakers reviewed during the 2023 legislative session and authorized it to present a 1.25 percent local sales tax option to voters on November 7, 2023. The funds raised from the local sales tax will be used for the new Public Works and Public Safety facilities.

More details of the building and design plans will come forward in late 2025 to early 2026, once the City moves forward with the design and development phase with input from property owners and residents.