The proposed budget for Washington calls for a 2-cent increase on the city’s property-tax rate. While it’s safe to say most, if not all, city property owners won’t like a tax increase, the revenue raised by this tax increase will address a great need in the city — a new police station.

The city has needed a new police station for at least 10 years. The city has looked at building a new police station, but that proposed project never came to fruition. Why not? Lack of money is the reason.

In 2011, the city suspended efforts to build a new police station, citing the lack of funds. In 2011, the total estimated cost of a new police station — construction, site preparation, soil analysis, architectural/engineering fees, moving costs and other fees — came to an estimated $4.3 million, according to figures provided to the council. The construction cost and site work cost combined came to $3.22 million. At the council’s March 8, 2011, meeting, the council decided it wanted the project cost closer to $3 million rather than $4.3 million.

The council was on record as supporting allocating $3 million for the new station, with $1 million in revenue coming from the city’s public-safety reserve fund, another $1 million borrowed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $1 million from other sources, including grants.

There is no question the city needs a new police station. The existing station, about 40 years old, is cramped and does not meet all modern standards for police departments. In July 2015 during a City Council meeting, Stacy Drakeford, the city’s Police and Fire Services director, made it clear he considers the police station, built in the 1970s, outdated and inadequate. He’s right.

The proposed budget indicates the city is ready to act on building a new police station. It’s about time, well, it’s way past time.

The proposed 2-cent increase on the tax rate, if approved by the council, would increase the tax on a property owner’s $100,000 house by $20 a year. That’s a small price to pay for a new police station that would help improve police protection in the city.