Austerity comes for Barton Springs
OK dear readers, I'm in the process of moving over the next few days, so the content may be sparse. The girls and the cats are flying up, while I'll be driving my dented Mazda 2 up with my dad.
This is a sign of things to come. Lina Fisher writes for the Austin Monitor:
Over Memorial Day weekend, Barton Springs swimmers noticed a new sign that had quietly been posted by the City bearing some bad news for free night swimmers: Beginning June 1, the pool would close completely at 9pm.
The resulting uproar quickly reached City Council offices. Council Member Ryan Alter, whose District 5 borders the pool, had already sprung into action as of Tuesday evening.
“I share the concerns I’ve heard from many constituents today, and I’ve asked the manager to work with PARD to reinstate free night swim hours at Barton Springs,” he told the Austin Monitor.
A few hours later, the parks department officially confirmed that night swim would continue.
A couple thoughts...
Cost per hour: As is the case for 5-8 am, Barton Springs is free between 9-10 pm. There is no revenue during those hours, but there are also no lifeguards, so the costs are lower. It would be interesting to get a sense of what the net cost is per hour/day of operation. No, I don't think the city should necessarily expect pool fees to cover the cost of service, but if you have to cut somewhere, these are factors to consider.
Private-public partnerships: Raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build highway caps is unlikely. Raising several million to help operate and maintain Barton Springs is far more likely. In fact, $3.3 million of private philanthropy, led by the Barton Springs Conservancy, played a key role in the rehab of the bathhouse. A few years ago the city entered into an agreement with the Trail Conservancy to take over maintenance of the Butler Trail, relieving the city of roughly $1.5 million a year in costs.
The Save Our Springs tax rate election? Because of the budget crunch, the city will have to hold a tax rate election, perhaps as soon as this fall. For the TRE to be successful, city leaders will have to show the voters that services they value are at risk in the absence of a tax increase. There are few public services that people here value more than Barton Springs.
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