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Proposed user fees of indoor pool are compared

Staff reporter

The City of Marion and USD 408 are embarking on a joint project that has been in the works for several years and one with many unknowns.

The school district is financing an indoor swimming pool which will be used by students of the school district and Marion County Special Education Cooperative, residents, and visitors. The city is making annual payments of $100,000 to the school district to pay the bond. When that portion of the bond is paid in 10 years, the city will own and operate the pool.

At a recent Marion City Council meeting, school officials and the council discussed daily user fees and membership prices. The common theme between the two entities was to keep prices affordable.

"Affordable" means different things to different people. For some families who pay for a private membership to Marion County Club, they may find the proposed prices "affordable." For others who may occasionally use the facilities, the pricing isn't as attractive.

Officials said price comparisons were made in determining the gate prices but that information was not divulged at the city council meeting.

User fees

The last summer that Marion City Pool was in use, which was in 2006, admission prices were $1.50 per child per day and $2 per adult per day. Individual season passes were $35 and family passes were $70.

Hillsboro City Council has not discussed changing pool prices for this season but last year's pool prices were $2 for everyone over four years of age. Those three and younger were free. An individual pass was $50 per season and a family pass was $125, which means an individual pays approximately $17 per month and a family $42 per month.

The prices proposed by USD 408 to the city council were $2 per day, and yearly memberships of $225 for individuals and $375 for families. That averages to be $18.75 per month for individuals and $31.25 per month for families.

Those prices were determined, Leiker said at the council meeting, by researching what other communities were charging.

Operating expenses

Another point of interest to constituents is how the two entities have budgeted for this first year of expenses.

It is understood that the school district and the city will split operating costs — 50/50 — but the City of Marion has not set any specific budget amount because the school district will pay expenses in 2008 and bill the city for its half in 2009.

What makes predicting pool costs a guessing game is that there aren't any other pools in the area that are indoor.

As a comparison, Hillsboro's Family Aquatic Center, a seasonal outdoor pool, has $88,800 budgeted this season for all pool-related expenses for three months of operation.

Of that, $50,000 is for salaries, $14,000 utilities, $10,000 commodities (chlorine, etc.), and $1,000 capital improvements.

If it costs the city and the school district about that much to operate the facility, then the annual cost could be more than $355,000 or about $178,000 per year for each entity.

More input from patrons is encouraged. Marion City Council may discuss the prices at its next meeting at 4 p.m. Monday at the city building. An agenda had not been set at presstime for that meeting.

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