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Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank talks with fellow officers Tuesday at the old Pub­­lic Safety Building. They were awaiting the re­­sults on the successful Proposition 1 vote for a new $125 million public safety complex.
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In Salt Lake City, the Great Recession proved no match for the thin blue line.

Proposition 1, a $125 million bond for a new public-safety complex, breezed to victory Tuesday.

Unlike a similar bond that lost by 262 votes two years ago, Prop 1 cruised 66 percent to 34 percent, according to unofficial returns.

"I never would have thought, in this economic environment, that people would vote so overwhelmingly to tax themselves," Mayor Ralph Becker said. "People saw the need."

The bond will fund a new five-story police and fire headquarters along with a three-story emergency-operations center across 300 East from Library Square. It will raise property taxes on a $260,000 home by $75 a year. Still, some residents said the extra expense is worth the peace of mind.

"If we expect the public servants to do their job," Avenues voter Joan Lelis said, "they've got to have a decent place to work."

The current 50-year-old headquarters at 315 E. 200 South has broken windows, water leaks and unreliable elevators.

Police Chief Chris Burbank said the need never was in doubt, but noted this bond had a champion in Becker and the City Council. "It became an important issue for the city of Salt Lake," he said, "not just the Police and Fire departments."

But the second-year mayor's first choice of location, on Library Square, exploded into Becker's first major controversy. A resident revolt engulfed City Hall.

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After weeks of squirming, Becker abandoned the site, preferring instead to move the headquarters east of 300 East between 400 South and 500 South. A public process on the location could wrap by year's end, Becker said.

Burbank said the design process should take a year followed by two years of construction, meaning police and fire crews could move into their new digs in 2012.

djensen@sltrib.com

Brandon Loomis contributed to this story.