NEXT TUESDAY AT 5:30 P.M.
The Tonkawa City Council will examine options for funding a new Municipal Swimming Pool at the August City Council Meeting. The old pool, originally built in 1936, was closed during the 2016 swimming season. Restoration of the existing pool in its current configuration could easily be more expensive than building a completely new pool. Modern pool designs provide water recreation for toddlers to adults.
Pools for a Tonkawa sized municipality are designed to be in the range of 3,000 to 4,500 square feet, and the purchase price ranges from $1.2M to $2.0M depending on the pool size and added amenities such as shade structures and water toys.
The City Council will discuss the costs required to both build and maintain a municipal pool at its August meeting. The financial burden of a city pool has two parts: The cost of building the pool and the cost to operate the pool.
The City’s finances are such that the Capital Expenditure required to build the pool can be financed with existing cash. These funds are currently in restricted accounts that can only be used for capital purchases and not ordinary operating expenses such as salaries and supplies. The Council will discuss the availability of these funds and the ability of the city to restore the funds using existing sales tax and utility income. An expenditure of $1.5M would require a monthly payment (back to the city’s capital funds) of $13,000 to $15,000 each month if amortized over a 10-year period.
The funds to operate to pool cannot come from restricted cash and must be taken from existing sales tax revenue and income from city utility sales. The costs to operate a municipal pool are substantial. Based on Tonkawa’s experience, a typical 90-day pool season requires an operating budget of $58,300. This is comprised of pool employee salaries of $30,000, operating supplies of $16,600, and maintenance and repair costs of $11,700. This budget does not include regular city employee time when they are diverted to work associated with the pool, or the cost of water used to fill and maintain the water level in the pool. Pool entrance fees are estimated to cover less than half of the operating cost of the pool, requiring the City to provide an additional $30,000 or more each season from current unrestricted cash income.
Tonkawa has been blessed with increasing sales tax revenue over the last several years ...
