by Staff Writer
(8/27/19, CAMAS, WA) The $78 million Camas Pool Bond is just the beginning of a path of spending that could potentially sink the taxpayers of Camas. The latest operating financial projections provided by City Administrator Pete Capell suggest that the new aquatic center will cost $2.6 million annually to operate. But Capell has only projected $2.3 million in expected revenue, throwing Camas taxpayers the $300K annual loss bill, each and every year.
Details of the operating financials are scant. They have not been issued to the public, are not part of the City Council's information packet (somehow they voted to go to ballot WITHOUT these figures), and are still a mystery to voters. Operating expense figures are somewhat easier to estimate using historical comparables of similar facilities. But nowhere in the City's polished website or 4-color promotional materials can one actually find any details on the revenue projections. We have yet to find ANY information that supports the Town's belief that they can make $2.3 million in sales each year.
So we thought we might take a stab at it.
Vancouver's award-winning Firstenburg Community Center, built recently for a whopping $17 million, charges a resident family $693/year to use the place. Remember, the proposed $78 million bond only buys the front door. You'll have to pay additional user fees to actually walk through it. Of the 5400 families currently living in Camas, if 20% of them actually paid the $693/year to use the facility, the City would collect $750K in user fees. Let that sink in. If 1 out of 5 Camas families paid an additional $693/year on top of the bond tax, it would only generate 29% of the revenue needed to break even.
Where will the other $1.85 million come from? Every year? For the next 20 years?
And who might operate the new $72 million facility? Who in Camas City Government knows how to? Do we have experience in this field of business? Is the City equipped with the know how and skill set to successfully operate in the hyper-competitive health and fitness market? Other local fitness centers, health clubs, yoga and crossfit studios, swim teams, and the like- will all elevate into competitive overdrive- offering the same services for less and cutting into the City's projected revenue. They won't just fold up and go away. They'll fight to survive. Against their own City government.
It's dog eat dog out there. But unlike the rest of those businesses, the taxpayer ponies up the losses on the City's Aquatic Center. And what's worse, we can't even close it down if the financial pain becomes too intense. It's ours for a virtual lifetime. No matter how much it loses, we'll have to make up the difference.
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