Earning your keep: what would happen if your paycheck were based on how much your facility earned? One town's experiment shows the value of using the profit motive to create a superior aquatics facility.(The Money Issue)

Municipal pools face an uncertain future. Across the country, tightening municipal budgets are raising serious questions about the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that the average municipal pool requires for annual operations. Some municipalities are being forced to close their pools, while others take bold measures aimed at making their aquatics facility self-supporting. Despite all the effort, in most cases they continue to lose money, which leaves them vulnerable to closure.

It doesn't have to be this way. Municipal pools can be self-supporting. It's being done, and done well, in a few specific locations. But to get there, municipalities have a number of obstacles to overcome.

In West Hartford, Conn., one municipality has found a way around those obstacles. In 1991, West Hartford contracted with my company, Aquatics For Life, a private, tax-paying corporation specializing in the operation of aquatics facilities. At the time, some questioned the decision to work with a non-public entity for management of the town's newly renovated indoor aquatics facility (Cornerstone Aquatics Center).

But the town's goal was a self-supporting facility that wouldn't require taxpayer subsidies, and that result is basically guaranteed in the management contract. We pay all operating expenses, including insurance, wages, and the approximately $200,000 annual utility bill. If revenues aren't sufficient to cover operating expenses, we take the hit, not the town.

The result?

Thirteen years and counting of a self-supporting facility--meaning user fees cover all operating costs, save for long-term upkeep. The facility is widely used and enjoyed by residents of West Hartford (at discounted rates), and has returned money to the tax base every year since we began management (on average, $100,000 per year). In addition, we also provide free pool time to four high school swim teams and discounted rates to other area youth swim programs.

A public/private partnership may not be the right approach for all municipalities. But it has clearly helped West Hartford meet its goal of a self-supporting facility. And the town got another benefit: a truly superior aquatics facility. Here are six ways we achieved it--and how you can, too.