Standard-Examiner: Olympic-sized Pool Discussed in Ogden

Bum deal for the school district: By closing its two smaller pools and investing in the Ogden School District could recoup its $5.9 million investment after only... (drumroll)... 24 years

By: Dan Schroeder

Interesting S-E article today about the Ogden School District's possible role in funding and using the Fieldhouse:

• Olympic-sized pool discussed in Ogden

Looks like the district isn't exactly itching to close its existing pools at Ogden and Ben Lomond high schools, but even if it did, it would save only $250,000 per year. This is important information that hasn't been reported before, as far as I know.

Meanwhile, the article explains how the district would help pay for the Fieldhouse through the proposed BDO tax increment extension, which the administration says would raise $15 million. But amazingly, the article never says what the district's share of that $15 million would be. Instead, the reporter punts with this useless sentence:

"City officials have not said how much tax increment taxing entities would give up if the project area is extended to fund the field house."

C'mon, Standard-Examiner, it's not that hard. You can do the arithmetic yourself, if you just ask someone what fraction of our property taxes goes to the school district. The answer is about 39%, and at that rate, the district's share of $15 million would be $5.9 million.

So now we can make a comparison: By closing its two smaller pools and investing in the Fieldhouse, the Ogden School District could pay $5.9 million but save $250,000 per year. So financially, it would make back its investment after 24 years. However, there would be added costs to transport its swim teams downtown, and PE classes wouldn't have time for that so they'd presumably lose out, and it isn't clear how much time in the new pool the district would even get, given that the new pool also needs to be available to paying customers if the Fieldhouse is to have a chance of paying its own operating costs.