As summer approaches, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether we will get to swim in the small pools in Dearborn this year. The short answer is, yes, the same pools that were open last year will be open this year. You probably know it’s not that easy, though. After this year, there is no guarantee for the pools. A sub-committee was formed in the Summer of 2011 and included:
- two representatives of SOP
- two members of the Rec Commission
- a member from the City Sustainability department
- a Dearborn Community Fund representative
- two representatives from the Recreation department (with 2 additional supportive staff members)
Their charge was to come together on the issue and find a solution that was reasonable and actionable. After one meeting, the committee was advised to put its work on hold to see how the November millage vote went and started back up in mid-December. I joined the committee in December as a representative from Save Our Pools. We have been meeting regularly for the past 3 months to work through a solution that presented itself as a viable option: Special Assessment Districts (SADs).
A lot of questions have already been raised about SADs. I want to address some of the questions on this post and provide a bit of insight into what I think is going on with the pools. This is an ongoing conversation and I encourage you to ask questions and give your opinion. After all, this process begins and ends with what the people in Dearborn want, so that’s exactly what I want to know.
First Things, First: What is a SAD?
A Special Assessment District is a defined geographic area within a city that pays an additional amount to enjoy some benefit that others outside of the district don’t enjoy. Dearborn has a SAD already in the form of special lighting within the Ford Historic Homes District. SADs seemed like a good idea for a couple of reasons.
- The people would get the say, which is always beneficial.
- It allowed each pool to have a fighting chance, along with the closed pools to have a second chance. Until that point, the possibility of re-opening those pools was not really even on the table.
Why Not Just One Across the City?
As I mentioned above, a SAD is all about the benefit that people get in paying for the special assessment. As SOP representatives, Ryan Woods and I were very concerned about making things fair for people across the city. We strongly advocated for a city-wide SAD and tried to find some example to show it could be done. We were told that a citywide vote was not an option and that it likely couldn’t withstand a challenge by those who do not live near a pool to show the benefit. On top of that, there was the concern that perhaps the people who don’t live near a small pool wouldn’t see the value in voting for one, and they would cause the SAD to fail. Failure would result in the eventual closing of all small pools. So, the committee decided to look at individual districts around each of the pools.
How Were the Proposed Six SAD’s Decided?
We spent a great deal of time in our sub-committee and talking with residents about what these districts should look like. We knew it was important to follow the main traffic patterns of the city.
We also were very concerned about the SADs being fair. If we couldn’t have one across the city, then we wanted the costs for each SAD to be as close to the same number as possible. The problem is that the projected costs for capital and operation of the pools was the same, but the number of parcels (homes) isn’t the same across the city. This means that naturally some SADs will be lower than others simply due to the fact that there are more parcels in one SAD than in another.
As you might have noticed with Lapeer pool, there are much fewer parcels there than the other SADs, which means the SAD cost would be much higher than we thought was reasonable. So, the sub-committee recommended that the city cover the costs of that pools operation, making the number easier to manage and giving that SAD vote a fighting chance.
Here is a map of the proposed six SADs. You can find the proposed costs below. These costs are the ceiling, meaning the SAD is capped at what it is voted for. Additionally, any fund-raising or revenue generated from the pool will lower the SAD cost in that district.
Proposed costs – $500,000 capital investment, $600,000 capital investment. Actual renovation costs are currently out for quote.
How Does the New Tag Structure Work?
SAD and Neighborhood Pool Tags
Its proposed structure breaks down like this:
- In SAD: The people within the SAD are already paying for their pool in the assessment, so they don’t have to purchase tags to go to their SAD pool each summer.
- To go to other SAD pools, purchase a neighborhood tag or pay daily
- Preference to SAD members when within reach of 50 people near capacity – for new entry
- Out of SAD: Purchase a neighborhood pool tag, at the same costs they currently are, and go to any of the SAD pools that pass
- Or, as detailed below, pay a daily rate
Super Pass
For anyone who wants a pass to go to Dunworth, they will get a “super pass” which gives unlimited season access to Dunworth, Ford Woods, and all SAD passed pools (similar to what our regular tag does now). The cost of this tag hasn’t been determined yet.
Daily Admission
The pools will all still have the daily rates. This means, if you are in a SAD, you can go to your SAD every day of the year and don’t have to pay extra for a pass. If you just want to go to Dunworth a few times, then you can pay the daily admission rate and don’t need to worry about getting the Super Pass. A SAD family that only goes to their SAD pool would be getting unlimited access at a discounted rate from the traditional $100 family pass they have always bought before.
Click here for the recommended tag rate sheet.
Here and here are some more answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
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