This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

POOL FACTS (That Everyone Should Know)

The information concerning the replacement of the Veteran's Memorial Pool at Patton Park often appears contradictory and/or confusing.


We're not surprised…

The plans and costs have changed so many times that the only way EiE has been able to understand what's going on has been through vigilant attendance at nearly every meeting which involved the pool... including meetings of the Boards of Selectmen, the Joint Recreation Committee, the Planning Board and the Community Preservation Committees.

We have posted updated findings regularly on The Patch, Facebook (Patton Pool Facts Group) and to our membership via email. We have read and considered all responses and comments on and offline, from both sides of the pool debate over its scope, cost and a partnership with Wenham.

So when we hear reports and statements and comments and rumors that conflict with what we know are the facts, we believe we must address and correct them.

For the purpose of this article, we wish to simply address the mistaken notion that any pool, at any cost, will not cost taxpayers in our community "anything".

That is NOT true.

Take a close look at your property tax bill.  In the upper right corner, right below the line "Total Real Estate Tax"  is a line that reads "Total CPA". For most homeowners, that amount is 2% of the total real estate property tax.

Most folks understand that the CPA (Community Preservation Act) amount is, in fact, a TAX.  But just because it does not go up every year, the way our tax rate has, does not mean that there is "no additional cost" as some are repeatedly suggesting.

And just to be clear…if your property tax bill goes up, then so does the amount of your CPA tax contribution.

To spin the debate as though CPA funds are in some magical way exempt from access to your wallet is wrong and disingenuous.

The CPA portion of your property tax bill is a tax.  That's why it's added to the real estate property tax portion of your bill under the heading "Total Tax".

Every tax is a cut in your income. There is no "free" funding for a new pool, especially if borrowing is used to finance the project. In that case the pool costs escalate higher.

These are facts everyone should know.

Stay tuned for more POOL FACTS, coming soon.

Respectfully submitted by:
Citizens For Fiscal Responsibility
...aka Enough Is Enough (EiE)

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Hamilton-Wenham