Post Falls Parks Panel Urges Purchase Of Pool City Urged To Float Bond Issue To Buy Swim Gym Center
Thirty-seven people told the Post Falls Parks and Recreation Commission Tuesday night they want the city to own a public swimming pool.
The commission agreed.
Its members voted unanimously to recommend that the Post Falls City Council buy the only public pool in Kootenai County, the Swim Gym Aquatic Center on Idaho Street. They suggested taking it to the voters with a property tax bond issue in May.
Commissioners Ron Jacobson and Bob Townsend abstained from the vote because of conflicts of interest.
“It’s a valuable asset for the community,” said Robert Wood of Coeur d’Alene when the commission asked for public comment on whether the city should buy the pool.
Thirty-six others reiterated his point, just over half of the more than 60 people who turned out to the meeting to support the city’s proposed purchase.
People use the pool to rehabilitate injuries or exercise, they said. Children learn to swim there or compete on swim teams, residents said.
“If this pool was not here, we’d have to drive all the way to Spokane (to practice with a swim team) and I don’t know how feasible that would be,” said Judy Gersteuberger of Spirit Lake. She has a daughter on the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team, one of several organizations that use the pool regularly.
“The water is what’s keeping me from walking with a walker,” said Eleanor Adkins of Post Falls, who has arthritis.
Swim Gym owners have said they will have to close if the city can’t buy them out because they’re losing money. Their asking price is $400,000.
Parks and Recreation Director David Fair estimated it would cost an additional $40,000 per year to operate for at least the first three years.
That’s one issue the commissioners faced when deciding to recommend purchasing the pool. Fewer than seven percent of the public swimming pools in the United States make a profit, Fair said. Only about 10 percent to 15 percent even break even, he said.
If the city council agrees with the commission and puts the issue up to a vote, Fair said it would likely take a two-thirds majority vote to pass and would add about $6 per year to the taxes on the average house with a homeowner’s property tax exemption.
About half the people who testified in support of the pool were not Post Falls residents and therefore would not pay Post Falls property taxes. For that reason, one man suggested asking if Kootenai County or the city of Coeur d’Alene would be interested in operating the pool jointly.
The commission said it would look into whatever other sources of revenue might be possible in addition to running a bond issue that would increase property taxes.
However, the city of Coeur d’Alene is already considering building a pool of its own, Fair said, and probably would not be interested in operating one with Post Falls. If Coeur d’Alene does decide to build a pool, though, it would be at least another three years before it could be used, Fair estimated.