SOMETHING FOR NORTH PERTH TAXPAYERS TO CONSIDER

I enjoy reading the Stratford Beacon Herald daily and read with unbelievable interest an Editorial written by John Kastner. I will try to give you a view of what it included. Sorry Mr. Kastner but I am just on the learning curve with this computer and I am using your words but can not define them as quotes, have not figured out how to yet so assume all are quotes from your great article.
A task force in St Marys charged by the Mayor to take a hard look at the Stonetowns recreation costs has come back with some stunning suggestions. It says the town is in bad shape financially and that desperate times call for desperate measures. To that end the task force is saying the best solution is to close the brand new aquatic centre at the Pyramid Recreation Centre for at least 2 years. The task force concluded that the towns recreation budget is bleeding red ink and had a deficit of almost $2 million in 2010. The vast majority of the $2 million deficit - $1.3 million - went to the pool. According to the task force, closing the pool for 2 years would save $663,000 - and if you are questioning the math you are not alone. It is pretty much universally agreed that the primary job of government at every level is that it spends its taxpayers money wisely. Now, one can debate the initial decision to include a pool in the Pyramid Centre in St Marys. It was a contentious issue there and Stratford city council was faced with the same question when the Rotary Complex was approved. Stratford opted against a pool and given the dilemma in St Marys, many taxpayers here are probably saying thank heavens. That aside, the reality is that swimming pools are very expensive to build and even more expensive to operate and St Marys is not the first community to have buyers remorse. That is fine, but if the task of a municipality is to spend tax dollars wisely then how does mothballing a multimillion dollar facility figure into the equation. And what happens structually to a pool that is closed for 2 years. The fact is if you are in for a dime you are in for a dollar and once you go for the pool route and build it you are pretty much committed to running it. If it is true that St Marys can simply no longer afford to operate its pool, that is tragic and shame on the council that bit off more than the town can chew. But similarly, if the current council is just throwing in the towel and saying it is easier to close the pool than to find a way to make it work, it should hang its collective head as well. The job of council is to spend tax dollars wisely, and a public pool sitting empty is not only symbolic of a failure for a previous town council, but the current one as well.
Well written Mr Kastner
And North Perth taxpayers take notice of what he has written. The Municipality is in the process of deciding what it is pretending it can afford for a new recreation complex. The Municipality should be doing more research, not only into the costs of running such a huge expensive complex but whether the taxpayers can actually afford the long term affects. If they do not they will be in the same boat as St Marys and will have to hang its collective heads