With barely two weeks to go as the March 17 primary election looms with Geneva’s $59.4 million public safety question before voters, a state representative came out against it.

State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, on Monday sent out text messages to his constituents, urging them to vote no on the Geneva Police Department referendum.

“This is way too much for our new police station,” Ugaste’s text stated. “Taxpayers must speak up. ... Vote NO on the $60M referendum and oppose higher property taxes on March 17. ... Republican State Representative Dan Ugaste.”

In an attempt to reach out to voters ahead of the election, city officials have hosted in-person and virtual tours of the current police facility, informational sessions and a podcast.

Ugaste and other local officials attended a leadership breakfast at City Hall Feb. 9, which included a tour of the current facility. The chosen location is on 17 acres the city already owns next to the Public Works facility on South Street – acreage currently leased to the Geneva Park District for ballfields.

Neighbors of the park have come out against it – and Ugaste is one of them.

“My house is right across the street,” Ugaste said.

Though Ugaste said he’s against the referendum because of the cost, Mayor Kevin Burns called him a “NIMBY” – an acronym for Not In My Back Yard, a common vernacular used by those to voice opposition to something in their neighborhood.

“When the Geneva City Council unanimously voted to approve the South Street location for a new Geneva Police Station, Dan expressed concerns to me and others that a police station ‘so close to his home would negatively impact his home value,’” Burns said.

“Dan’s aggressive opposition to the proposed police station has nothing to do with numbers, as he asserts, and everything to do with blatant NIMBYism,” Burns said.

Ugaste is not thrilled at the location, but he said his issue is cost and that the ballfields flood, which adds to the construction cost.

“If the numbers made sense, I would not have a leg to stand on,” Ugate said. “If the numbers made sense, then it would be ‘Not In My Backyard.’ ... Everyone else is building for half the price of what Geneva wants to spend.”

He cited the St. Charles facility, which cost $24,600 in 2019, and a South Elgin Police Department, which spent $22 million in 2024.

The difference, officials said, is the other municipalities had sites with existing underground infrastructure, while the South Street site does not.

In an email, South Elgin Deputy Police Chief Brett Czechowski said the site for their new police facility had underground utilities in place. But the village still needed to build modern utility connections as well as remove bedrock and put in backfill to support the foundation.

The city has a comparison chart on the referendum page of its website.

If Geneva could build its facility for $20 million, Ugaste said he would support it, even at that location.

That, Burns said, “is like a basketball team losing a game and saying at the press conference – ‘if only the other players weren’t so tall and so good we would have beat them.’”

All things being equal, Ugaste and the immediate neighbors in the Dover Ridge subdivision still would rather have a new police facility somewhere else.

“There has to be more than one spot in Geneva that can be used for a police department,” Ugaste said.

He could not say where that might be, or what it might cost to buy additional property.

Ugaste said he agrees Geneva police could use a new police station, but it should cost less.

“I’m against this one because it’s too costly – $60 million is a ridiculous sum,” Ugaste said. “Why do we need to spend $60 million for a police station and an increase on property taxes ... for 20 years?”

City officials have also said they would sell the current location in the city’s downtown and use the proceeds to lower the cost of the bonds.

Burns also interpreted Ugaste’s position as one that does not support his local police – even though his campaign website states: “Due to his ongoing commitment to keeping our streets safe, enforcing the laws and supporting the police, Dan Ugaste has been endorsed by both the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police and the Safe Suburbs USA organization.”

“I’m surprised that someone who espouses uncompromising support of the police on his official State of Illinois website and various social media platforms is now actively campaigning against his own city’s police department,” Burns said.

“I will continue to work with and on behalf of law enforcement in my capacity as a state lawmaker to make sure our citizens stay safe and our police officers stay safe,” Ugaste stated on his campaign website. “It is a tough job for which we need to provide the best training, equipment and support that we can afford.”