Pool Subsidy a Hot Topic for City Budget Workshop

The Recreation Department and the Aquatics Program is tops on the agenda for  City Council's annual budget workshop Saturday.

The city is taking over operation of the municipal pool July 1 for the first time in the facility's 46-year history, posing a new strain on Piedmont's general fund.

The proposed aquatics budget for 2011-2012 is $757,139.

City aquatics consultant Jeff Eorio thinks the pool can generate about $375,000 in the next fiscal year and about $429,000 annually going forward, anticipating more families will buy annual and seasonal passes once they see how the first year under new management goes.

Jon Sakol, who has served on the board for the pool's outgoing management organization–the Piedmont Swim Club, has put forth a more optimisitc revenue projection, suggesting the pool could sell even more passes to raise $650,000 a year and get close to breaking even on operating costs.

But the Recreation Commission to recommend a fee schedule including weekend drop-in availability that Sakol said would compromise those critical pass sales.

In considering the revenue schemes, which City Council is slated to vote on in June, it will have to decide how much of a subsidy it can stomach. 

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Log on to Piedmont Patch Saturday for real-time updates on the discussion around the city pool revenue/expenditure equation and other fiscal issues.