WORLAND — Representatives from Worland City Council and Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees have been invited to meet with the Washakie County commissioners today to discuss funding for the Worland Aquatic Center (WAC). The WAC operates currently on a $270,000 budget.

The commissioners, as part of their regular monthly meeting, have the aquatic center on the schedule at 3 p.m.

Commissioner Terry Wolf said that the commissioners told the school district and Worland Aquatic Center Joint Powers Board that they would make a decision on the loan proposal that was originally presented at the Dec. 15 meeting.

“We told them we’d make a decision on the loan proposal that the school board voted on. We’ll take a look at that,” Wolf said.

Under the loan option, according to a proposal outlined by school district business manager Jack Stott, the WAC JPB would be “authorized to borrow, interest free, from the endowment up to $25,000 each year for two years. Further, that interest revenue distributions be capped at $40,000 until the loan is pad back.”

Commission Chairman Aaron Anderson said since the proposal was first presented at the Dec. 15 meeting, the commissioners wanted additional time to consider the proposal before making a decision. “Essentially we told them we were going to make our decision at the meeting. I don’t know if anyone will be there,” Anderson said.

Wolf added, “Until we can get something to allow the pool board to utilize for operations there, they are running on such a limited budget — keep the doors open, but not cut anymore at the detriment of membership. So we’ll look at the school board’s option and I venture a guess, the commissioner will also have some alternative to put forward for discussion.”

At a Dec. 14, Stott recommended the loan option to the school board. School board members did not specifically authorize Stott’s proposal. Instead, voting 6-1, they authorize moving forward and discussing their options with other entities.

The issue was then brought before the commissioners and again to the Worland City Council at their respective meetings on Dec. 15 with the commissioners making no decision at that time.

The Joint Powers Board had initially presented a letter to the city council in late November that the council acted upon Dec. 1, according to City Clerk Tracy Glanz.

In a letter Nov. 25 to the school board, City of Worland and commissioners, the joint powers board requested making $300,000 available from the endowment, outlining three options — in a lump sum, in a predetermined amount to be made available annually until revenue from interest rates increase enough to match the predicted amounts in the funding model or in the form of an interest free loan.

Stott, in his letter to the school board Dec. 8, outlined advantages and disadvantages for each option. For the loan option he noted, “It maintains and uses funds as per explanation to the public prior to the election and consequently as per the intent of the electorate when they voted.”

Anderson and Wolf said they would consider the other options as well at today’s meeting.

The Worland Aquatic Center is not on the city council’s agenda for its meeting tonight at 7 p.m., but Glanz noted that if something comes from the commissioner meeting it could be added.

Glanz said the council on Dec. 1 moved to allow the joint powers board to utilize excess funds in the amount of $300,000 from the tax allowing them the choice of options they presented that they gave the council.

Financial shortfall

Worland City Councilor Mandy Horath, who serves on the Worland Aquatic Center Joint Powers Board, said during the Dec. 15 commission meeting, “With the joint powers board, and our director, David Villa, we’ve cut everything we possibly can to make the cash flow a little better, and it’s just not working.”

Stott said that the center operates on about $270,000 per year.

In a letter to school board members, Stott wrote, “I have indicated that a $400,000 budget would be adequate, while still not being extravagant.” In his letter to the school board, Stott proposed moving forward with the option for the school district to loan funds from the endowment at no interest to the aquatic center.

During the 2010 election, Washakie County voters approved a special 1 percent sales tax to raise about $3.7 million and when the tax ended $4.3 million was collected. According to the JPB letter, “The excess of funds over the $3.7 million is currently earmarked in such a way as to completely hamper this boards ability to use funds as it needs to.”

In 2014, Stott told the Northern Wyoming Daily News that the district expected to collect interest at a rate of 4 percent on the endowment. However, the endowment is only collecting between .15 and .35 percent.

As a result, instead of collecting the originally projected $80,000 per year from the endowment, the district is only collecting $5,000 to $6,000 annually.

While the Federal Reserve raised interest rates last month .25 percent, Stott said the loan option is still necessary.

Horath said at the Dec. 15 commissioner meeting that the JPB has done everything that it can to cut operating costs. If the facility needs chemicals, JPB members will volunteer their resources and time to get them.

“If someone is going to Billings, we’ll ask them to pick it up (supplies),” Horath said, adding that in some cases that saves $300 in delivery costs.

Horath said that keeping the WAC open has not been cheap. It costs $4,500 per month for natural gas, $3,000 per month in electricity.

Stott said that the aquatic center has an annual payroll of about $120,000. While the number of employees fluctuates, the center employs David Villa as a fulltime director and they employ a fulltime assistant. Numerous other employees include lifeguards and other staffs.

The facility also has numerous volunteers.