Proposition 1, the $192 million public-safety bond that was defeated by a paper-thin margin by voters on Nov. 6, still lost, based on the official vote canvass.

The controversial bond - advocates argued a new cop shop and other police and fire facilities are long overdue, while critics claimed the upgrades were too costly - was rejected by just 291 votes on Election Day. That number was sliced, albeit barely, to 263, canvass officials told the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday. Just over 2,400 provisional and absentee ballots were counted during the canvass to make up the new margin.

"There was hope," Council Chairman Van Turner said after hearing the new numbers. "That one was close enough it could have gone either way."

But police Chief Chris Burbank sounded a more sober tone, recognizing election results are rarely overturned with the canvass.

"I really wasn't holding my breath," Burbank said outside the council workroom at City Hall. "It's unfortunate, but it really doesn't change anything."

On Election Day, more than 42,000 votes were cast on the public-safety bond. By percentage, the breakdown ended up 50.3 to 49.7. No outcome in any contest was reversed, nor did any margin significantly change based on the official count.

In District 1, Turner maintained his defeat (53 percentage point to 47 percentage point) of Michael Clara. There were no significant changes to the numbers in the other council contests. J.T. Martin outpaced Roger McConkie in the District 6 open seat and Luke Garrott bested Nancy Saxton, an incumbent in District 4.

In the lopsided mayor's race, Ralph Becker held his 64 to 36 percentage-point dismissal of Dave Buhler.

Late Tuesday, Burbank repeated his plea for a new public-safety headquarters as well as an east-side police precinct and a west-side fire-training facility. Some people point to the last two items as excessive, and perhaps the reason capital residents rejected the bond.

"The need still exists," Burbank insisted. "The question is, should we be packaging it differently?"

Burbank, who notes construction prices will spike higher the longer the city waits, said he has had several meetings with mayor-elect Becker on the subject. But he said it was "premature" to assume any funding plan was in place.

"We have to back up and do what the voters want us to do," Turner said. "Maybe we'll have to repackage it."

Few argue the city's police headquarters - the building leaks and lacks room for evidence storage as well as for an emergency operations center - needs to be addressed. Still residents evidently flinched at the $192 million price tag, which would bring a $175 boost in property tax on an average home valued near $300,000.

Polls showed a slight majority backed the bond before the election. But just days before polls opened, Mayor Rocky Anderson reversed course and publicly rejected the plan. On the eve of the election, six members of the City Council, along with Burbank, called a news conference to blast Anderson and make a final push for Proposition 1. The move failed to sway enough people.

Later Tuesday, the council convened as the Board of Canvassers and certified the new numbers.

djensen@sltrib.com