How Much Will Arlington Heights Pools Cost Taxpayers This Year?

Photo credit: Palatine Park District 

Operating and maintaining a community pool can be a costly business.

And when a city-run pool does not make any money, or even break even, in a given year, taxpayers are left to foot the bill, the Daily Herald reports.

So, what is that expected to mean for Arlington Heights taxpayers this year?

Not much, a Daily Herald investigation found. Unlike many communities that are slated to lose money on their pools, Arilngton Heights plants to make $332,758.

But that number isn’t completely cut and dry,

“Although you do see a surplus in our budget, it’s not taking into account maintenance costs,” Brian Meyer, the district’s director of recreation and facilities, told the Daily Herald. “I would say it’s probably break even more than anything.”

The village of Arlington Heights runs Frontier Pool, Camelot Pool, Heritage Pool, Pioneer Pool and Olympic Indoor Swim Center.

Maintenance costs, the weather and a “glut of entertainment options” when it comes to pools and aquatic centers in the suburbs has lead to increased operational costs and lower revenue for many communities, the Daily Herald investigation found.

“I think there’s a degree of the community that does go elsewhere because it has a little more to offer,” Wood Dale Park District Executive Director Matthew Ellmann toldthe Daily Herald. “Society as a whole, people want the more, the new, the next greatest thing. At some point we’ll have to address that.”

Take a look at what other communities throughout the suburbs are expected to spend on their pool operations this year on the Daily Herald website.