Who Will Pay for Operating Losses at the Albany Pool?

Four years ago, when the Pool Improvement Bond Measure E was presented to voters, the literature asked if the community wanted to issue $10 million in bonds to replace .

It didn't ask whether voters wanted the school district to take on ongoing losses to operate a new aquatic facility.

Yet now, weeks before built to replace the old one, the newly-hired Aquatic Center manager says to expect operating losses—because that is the norm for pool operations.

"Correct," said Aquatic Center Director Amanda Garcia, when asked if she expected an operating loss. "The norm is that pools operate at a loss," she continued. 

That means the —already sheared to the bone from three years of decreasing state funding—looks like it will soon take on a money-losing endeavor with the new Aquatic Center.

TOUGH CHOICES MAY BE AHEAD

Back in the winter of 2007-08, during the campaign for Measure E, proponents did not ask voters if students should put up with out-of-date textbooks to have a new pool, or endure crowded classrooms to ensure swimming hours.

Yet those are the choices that AUSD is up against now.

Garcia projected that the pools' operating costs would exceed its revenues by in its first six months. 

Garcia said the indoor pool will pay for itself, because it can be operated year-round. Outdoor pools, however, are usually money-losing operations, she said.

"If we can get more teams to rent it" on an ongoing basis, she said, particularly some that are serious and thus well-paying, then maybe the outdoor pool could avoid losing money.

Garcia said, in December, that she has been trying to convince some of these teams to rent it for regular practices, but hadn't yet found any takers.

THE GENERAL FUND WILL TAKE THE HIT

The school district has not said where money for operating the pool is going to come from.

"At this point, any negative will come out of the general fund. But please remember, part of the pool operation is for students. It is a district facility much like the Little Theater and Cougar Field. The maintenance, repairs, heating and cleaning come out of the general fund," said in an email.

Times were comparatively flush back in the winter of 2007-08 when Measure E was passed. It was one year before the financial markets collapsed. It was two years before the state gutted education spending, leaving school districts to figure out how to get along with billions less, resulting in cuts in the vicinity of $500 per student.

Since that vote on Measure E, Albany has had to say goodbye to small class sizes in K-2 and in high school English classes. It has also cut back on classroom aides, and held back on items such as replacing some math textbooks or extending library hours. 

AN OPERATING AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY?

Stephenson said she asked city officials if they would consider some kind of joint operation of the pool, or if the city would assist in funding operations.

(Often, it is the city rather than the school district that run swimming pool operations. That is the case in neighboring cities El Cerrito and Berkeley.)

City officials said no.

wrote, in an email sent by  to Albany Patch, that, historically, the city and school district have run community recreational spaces separately.

The city handles playing fields and tennis courts at Memorial and Ocean View parks, while the school district has been responsible for the pool, the email continued.

"The City does not currently have any untapped resources to expand its areas of responsibility for student and community recreational facilities," they wrote.

Click the "Keep me posted" button below for updates when we write about the pool. What questions do you have about pool operations? Tell us in the comments.

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If there's something in this article you think , or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email at albany@patch.com.