We got to work and our pool stays open!
Nice Job Homer. Stay tuned, we have a lot of work to do before June 2027!
This pool is important to a ton of people in Homer. Let’s save it from closing.
Here’s the story:
It’s a money thing. We’ll need to figure this out… how do we keep things like pools that are necessary for our community’s safety, health and well being when it costs more than $200,000 per year to operate? Do we charge $20/visit? Or increase taxes on the community? Or do GoFundMe campaigns every year in a desperate panic to keep the pool open? Or maybe we create a Recreation District that can charge a $1 tax on tourists who visit– which is what most other tourist towns use to make life better for their residents. We’ll need to start having these conversations and collectively come up with a solution.
How to keep our pool?
Here are the numbers:
The District will pay for many of the pool necessities including facility maintenance, staffing, supplies, and part of the utilities. The remaining part of the utilities is $59,873.34, and that’s what we were able to generate.
Here’s how we raised that:
The City of Homer will be providing $20,000. That left the Homer Pool Lifesavers to raise $40,000. Already, the South Peninsula Hospital has offered to pay half– the hospital is contributing $20,000! (so generous! Thank you!). That left us to raise the balance of $20,000. We had already raised $8k, and the GoFundMe raised $12,000 in less than 6 hours. Amazing job Homer!
What about after June 2027? Great question! We don’t know. We will begin organizing and planning in September. This town is full of can-do people, and we will solve this and keep the pool open–especially with your help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why don’t we have City funding for the pool?
The pool costs in excess of $200,000 to operate each year. That includes utilities, maintenance, supplies, salaries, etc. The City of Homer doesn’t have a recreation budget that’s built to handle this level of expense– at least not at this time.
Why is the pool at risk of closing?
The State of Alaska keeps cutting school funding. It’s not just pools that are under pressure. The entire school system is hurting. Several options need to be explored to create a long-term solution for the pool, and we plan to work on that in the fall. Join us with your ideas please.
Reach us at HomerPoolLifeSavers@Gmail.org
Thank you!
