The City of Sitka will take over management of the Blatchley Middle School swimming pool from the Sitka School District. At a special budget meeting on Thursday (4-4-24) the Sitka Assembly unanimously agreed to assume pool operations at a time when the school district is struggling to contend with uncertainties surrounding state funding.
Managing the pool will cost about $350,000 a year, but Finance Director Melissa Haley said the city has already accounted for some of that– the city already had about $120,000 earmarked in next year’s budget as a part of their school funding package. But covering the full cost could free up some resources for the school district at a time when state funding is in flux.
“So they could use some of the contribution that we’re making up to the cap for teachers, instead of having to use something to fund the pool,” Haley said. “It maintains an important asset for the community and the schools, and then with the synergy with the Parks and Rec program, there is potential to to grow the revenue from what it has been.”
But Haley added that a pool is a higher risk asset, and taking it on increases the city’s liability.
“We’re adding on another expense when our growth is, you know, I think we’re maybe not plateauing, but we’re not seeing the same growth we have in the past few years,” Haley said. “And our expenses keep increasing.”
And it would be a lot of work for the city’s Parks and Rec department to assume pool management. The city would take over maintenance positions currently supervised by the schools and add an additional full time and part time position to manage the facility. Assembly member JJ Carlson cautioned that the transition would take time.
“I don’t want to see the headline tomorrow be ‘The city takes on the pool. It’s going to be open July 1 for all of the community.'” Carlson said. “[I] would hope there’d be some sort of understanding in the community that this is more than just a budget talk. There’s a lot of operations that need to change hands here. And it’s a big thing.”
Parks and Rec coordinator Kevin Knox agreed.
“We would want to try to get that FTE [full time equivalent employee] in there as soon as possible– an aquatics manager or pool manager– and have them certified and trained up as quickly as we can,” Knox said. “We have some options there. But it is going to be a heavy lift.”
Despite those concerns, Finance Director Haley said the pool could be a source of revenue for the city. She conservatively estimated it could bring in around $100,000 a year. Assembly member Scott Saline wondered if it would remain affordable to the public.
“35 years ago, it’d be two bucks to go swimming,” Saline said. “I’m just curious, if they say revenue stream, I’m thinking, ‘Well, people aren’t gonna be able to afford to go swimming every day if they’re seniors, and they got $2000 a month coming in, and if it’s going to be 12 or 15 bucks to go swimming every day.”
The assembly unanimously approved taking over pool operations. The assembly also agreed to direct $125,000 to the school district to support management of the Performing Arts Center, leaving them with a general fund deficit of just over $500,000 to contend with. To shore up some of the difference, they found other areas to cut. On a 5-2 vote with assembly member Thor Christianson and Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz opposed, they agreed to trim a proposal to hire four new firefighters down to three, saving $100,000. They also voted, 5-2, to remove a request for a full-time circulation manager at the library from the budget, an $80,000 cut, which was opposed by assembly members Tim Pike and Scott Saline. And they removed a large snowplow from the budget, around $77,000.
The additions and subtractions got the assembly closer to where their general fund deficit was before they agreed to take on the pool. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said their work to balance the budget wasn’t done, and he hoped they could chip away some more at the deficit at the next budget meeting on April 18.
