Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade conceded Wednesday morning residents voted down a ballot question to set aside about $5 million for a new police training academy. 

The ballot count Wednesday morning showed the question failing 52.22% to 47.48%, along the same margins as Tuesday night, according to the El Paso County Clerk and Recorders’ Office. 

Since the question has failed, residents will see about $21.50 credited back to them via Colorado Springs Utilities accounts. 

The city needed to ask residents for permission to keep the $4.75 million because it was collected in excess of a cap set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. It would have paid for a portion of a new training building. 

Mobolade said in a news release Wednesday that the city is still committed to building a new training facility. 

“As always, we will get creative piecing together the funding needed to ensure our community is safe. Public safety remains my top priority,” he said in the release. 

Stop Cop City COS organizer Maryah Lauer said she was a bit in shock by the outcome, particularly considering a group backing the question spent $179,300 in recent weeks and the opposition raised $2,550.

Lauer said her coalition knocked thousands of doors to oppose the question particularly in southeast Colorado Springs, an area that has been over policed. Instead of police training, her coalition would like to see public investments in safe and stable housing and mental health resources.  

“We know that there are serious problems with the leadership and the culture of CSPD but those will not be fixed by training,” said Lauer, who is with the Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America, one of the largest groups in the coalition. 

The city signed a contract in July for $48,000 with Wold Architects and Engineers to complete the needs assessment. The request for proposals went out in March, city spokeswoman Vanessa Zink said. 

The city is exploring buying a building to remodel or building a new facility. The needs assessment is expected to be complete in December. 

The mayor’s office estimates it could cost between $12.5 million to $21 million to purchase and renovate an existing building, according to a webpage dedicated to the project. Building on a new building and purchasing land could cost between $39.3 million to $45 million. 

The city collects a .4% sales tax for public safety needs and expects to draw on this funding in part for the project. 

Colorado Springs has set aside $1.8 million in Public Safety Sales Tax funds from this year 2023 for the project. The city is also planning to spend between $500,000 to $1 million in public safety sales tax reserve funds and between $2 million to $4 million in reserves from general sales taxes.

The remainder of the project could be financed through annual payments from public safety and general tax revenues. 

The city expects to provide updates on the project at ColoradoSprings.gov/PoliceTrainingFacility.