Public views sought on pool funding: Lower than expected revenue per admission

Are public pools a social good, and how much should entry prices be raised to help cover costs?

These are the questions Gisborne councillors are putting to the public to decide as the council considers raising the entry price to the pools by $1.70, to $7.50 per adult, by 2026.

Mayor Rehette Stoltz said she would like to hear from the community after the council was split on two options available on potential price rises.

Kiwa Pools opened last year and was benchmarked to have around 200,000 admissions, with an estimated revenue average of $5 per admission (an adult entry pass is $5.80).

After 11 months of operating, the pool had already passed the admissions number, but the revenue per customer was only $3.17.

This was due to high numbers of child, infant and family passes, sports entry fees, and free and lower admission charges as part of its opening promotional sales.

Kiwa Pools has one of the lowest price tags for families — compared with community pool facilities nationwide — at just $15 per two adults and three children, or one adult and up to four kids.

The council report proposed either increasing the entrance fee by the amount of inflation, or increasing it by inflation plus the amount needed to reach the estimated revenue figure of $5.50 per user. This would bring in an estimated $1 million in revenue per year.

Even though this option has a higher price tag, it still falls short of the estimated necessary budget of $1.07m.

The cost of the pools was debated during last week’s Finance and Performance Committee meeting.

Councillor Rob Telfer said the council seemed happy to put the cost of a lot of stuff back on ratepayers who don’t use the facilities.

Stoltz said, “All of us pay taxes every day, some of us never use the hospital, but we still pay for the option to use the hospital if you have a heart attack.”

When the council discussed the pools, it centred around encouraging as many people as possible to be able to afford to swim there, while balancing it with a contribution from council.

“There’s definitely a public good component, to the museum, the theatre, the library, the public pool,” she said.

The option to raise the price by inflation and reach an average user rate of $5.50 would still maintain expectations set in the council’s recently adopted three-year plan, where users pay 40% and ratepayers pay 60%.

Councillor Aubrey Ria said there seemed to “be pros and cons for both options”.

“Given the users and the ratepayers will be affected, they should have the option to make the choice.”  The report said any shortfall in revenue could be covered by deficit funding or an internal loan, which would be repaid as the pool builds up its business.

Councillor Teddy Thompson said he was concerned the council was happy to borrow money all the time.

“I don’t mind borrowing money for a solar panel, which we would make that money back in the long run. But it seems like we’re borrowing and putting ourselves into more debt.”

Deputy Mayor Josh Wharehinga reminded the council that they were on the verge of losing the last pool when the $40m government funding allocation saved them.

“The pool will always need rate contribution in order to be able to operate. The attendance and the admissions would never be able to cover the costs of running the pool, plus depreciation on top of that,” he said.

Wharehinga also believed it was important to ensure the pool remained affordable to everyone in the region.

“It’s always our kaumātua [and kids] that come back to us and say ‘you keep those fees down’,” he said.

The option to raise the price of the pools by inflation would increase the adult admissions fees from $5.80 to $6.30 for 2024/25, and $6.75 for 2025/26.

Children’s fees would rise from $4 to $5 by 2025/26, with the inflation option, and with the more expensive option they would rise to $5.50.

The more expensive option for adults could raise adults’ admission prices to $7.50 by 2025/26.

The consultation will run from this week until October 15. Final entry fee charges for the 2024/25 years will be implemented on November 6.