Ninilchik residents will be asked during the Oct. 7 regular election whether they support creation of a Ninilchik Recreational Service Area to levy property taxes to support the community’s pool and other opportunities. That’s after the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing the move.
The proposition comes after a successful petition led by Ninilchik community member and former Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education President Debbie Cary. A summary separately approved Tuesday says that a “yes” vote would support establishment of the Ninilchik Recreational Service Area “with an emphasis on funding the pool at Ninilchik School.”
The only people eligible to vote are those who would have their property taxes affected by the change. A map included in meeting documents says that area stretches along roughly 30 miles of the Sterling Highway — from just south of Clam Gulch nearly to Stariski State Recreational Site.
A possible budget shared by borough staff during a community meeting in Ninilchik last month describes a mill rate of 1 for the affected area. The amount of money someone pays in property tax in a fiscal year is calculated by dividing the mill rate by 1,000 and then multiplying that number by the assessed property value. That means for every $100,000 in property that a person owns, they would pay $100.
That tax burden dominated public testimony on the ordinance at a public meeting in Ninilchik last month and during the assembly’s meeting on Tuesday. Cary told the assembly that she feared the mill rate of 1 may be too steep for some voters to stomach and, ultimately, the ballot proposition may fail.
Brent Johnson, the member of the assembly who represents Ninilchik and sponsor of the ordinance putting the question to voters, amended the language that will appear on the ballot to say that a possible option is only keeping the pool open for nine months of the year and taxing residents “a lesser mill rate.”
Johnson and borough staff heard testimony last month saying that such an arrangement may be impossible for Ninilchik Pool. Ninilchik School Principal Sheri Maynard said in July that it takes nearly three months to fill the pool because of the water quality in Ninilchik. That extended process also demanded a lot of expensive chemicals — which is why she said the ideal scenario would be to keep the pool operating without costly interruptions.
Borough Finance Director Brandi Harbaugh said Tuesday that, even if such a reduced schedule were possible, certain costs like utilities wouldn’t be eliminated.
Information included in a mayor’s report about the proposal says that there’s an estimated taxable property value of $409 million, meaning that the service area would generate around $409,000 in revenue — supplemented by donations and fees for a proposed budget worth $442,000.
A quarter of that total goes to hiring one 30-hour-a-week pool manager. There are not expected to be any lifeguards at the pool so that person will run the building, maintain the pool and staff operations themselves. The budget also describes significant spending for pool chemicals, maintenance, utilities and insurance.
Cary has said that she envisions the service area growing beyond just management of the pool in the coming years, eventually supporting other programming in arts, music and cooking.
At the community meeting, several said they were excited about the possibility of growing recreational opportunities in Ninilchik and keeping the pool at Ninilchik School open — it’s currently set to close when funding dries up later this year after being eliminated from the school district’s budget. Many others said they weren’t supportive of increasing their tax burden even to support those opportunities.
Johnson said Tuesday that he wants to give Ninilchik voters the opportunity to consider the proposal.
“Let’s let the voters decide,” he said.
A full recording of the assembly’s meeting and supporting documents including maps and the proposed budget for the service area are available at kpb.legistar.com.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
