The city of Campbell is considering placing some type of tax measure on the November 2018 ballot in an effort to raise money to revamp its civic center.

The city council honed in on the topic at an Oct. 17 study session. The council reviewed multiple funding measures that could help finance an upgrade to the center, which houses the library, police station and city hall.

The council appears to be leaning toward a parcel tax, which staff believes could raise the estimated $40 million needed to renovate the center and construct buildings, if approved by voters.

“There’s a lot of ways a parcel tax can be crafted to meet the needs of the project and meet the needs of the city,” public works director Todd Capurso told the council.

A parcel tax requires 67 percent approval from voters to pass.

Staff at a future meeting will provide the council with more information regarding the tax and which city services have the most immediate need for a new or renovated building. The amount of a potential parcel tax has not yet been discussed or suggested by staff.

The council also discussed possibly raising the city’s hotel tax or creating a tax for short-term rentals through services like Airbnb.

In addition to housing books and other circulated items, the 24,000-square-foot library hosts programs on various topics for all ages. Space is getting tight for these programs, according to Cheryl Houts, a former Campbell librarian.

“I just want to make one point from my experience, and that is that the library has always had trouble meeting the community’s program needs in the space that we have,” she told the council.

Meanwhile, the police department has outgrown its portion of city hall and has been using a portable building for 10 years.

The council and staff have debated a number of designs from Anderson Brule Architects, which come with an estimated price tag of more than $160 million. Staff came up with a lower estimate based on a city hall renovation, library renovation, new library annex and new police building that would also house an emergency operations center.

Councilman Jeffrey Cristina urged the council to give staff clear direction on what potential funding measure to pursue so a project can take shape soon.

“I would like to remind council that this has been a 15-year discussion, and the reason it’s been a 15-year discussion is because we haven’t made a decision,” Cristina said. “ If we just keep talking about it, keep discussing options and not making decisions, we’re going to be in the same spot we were 10 years ago in 10 years.”

Last year, the city polled residents on a number of potential measures, including a hypothetical bond measure which they favored with a 61.8 percent “yes” vote, while a general obligation bond polled with a 54.8 percent “yes” vote. At the time of polling, voters were asked if they would prefer a $75 million bond measure or a $428 parcel tax. The council did not feel comfortable enough with the polling to go forward with a measure on the November 2016 ballot.