June 26, 2023 |
Photo – Hanna Recreation Center – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Town of Hanna is looking for answers on how to keep the rec center there open as they face the realities of a budget crunch.
Last Thursday, June 22nd, Hanna town officials asked the public to attend a meeting at the town’s recreation center. The conference was held to show the gap between the rec center’s expenses and revenue. The difference is substantial, with the rec center consistently being over $200,000 in the red. To be clear, the town isn’t looking to shut the rec center down. The goal of the meeting was to brainstorm ideas for increasing the facility’s revenue or decreasing costs.
Hanna Mayor Jon Ostling told the gathered crowd of more than 50 people that the rec center was a major financial loss for the town. Mayor Ostling said inflation and lower tax revenue from the 2020 census made the rec center too costly to operate.
In 2010, the national census put the population of Hanna at 871 people. After the 2020 census, the official population of Hanna dropped to 683.
Town Treasurer Ann Calvert compared the annual cost to run the rec center versus how much money is generated in membership fees. According to Calvert’s calculations, the town allocated $189,751.12 to operate the rec center in the last year. Another $110,157.46 of one-time state impact money was earmarked for the facility. Membership fees only brought in $32,321 even. The resulting deficit was $267,587.58 in red ink.
Calvert said heating costs for the building were one of the largest expenses. In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, the town spent $65,199.73 on natural gas for the rec center.
The town recommended shutting down the pool during the winter months. According to Calvert’s cost breakdown, heating the swimming pool from November to April costs $45,631.04.
Faced with the staggering costs to keep the facility open, town officials asked residents attending the meeting for suggestions on ways to lower the operational cost of the recreation center without cutting back services.
Local resident Thomas Clark questioned the accuracy of the 2020 census count. Clark said a lack of available real estate in town indicates population growth, not decline. Town clerk Vivian Gonzales said Clark may be correct, but performing a recount would be prohibitively costly for the town.
Clark said property taxes have recently gone up. He asked where the tax money was going. Treasurer Calvert said the money goes to the operation of the town. Clark asked why the rec center was being singled out for cutbacks. Calvert said the rec center is the town’s largest expense.
Clark said a correlation existed between towns without recreation centers and crimes committed by young people. He said it was unfair to single out the rec center for budget cuts. Hanna Councilman Jayson Nordquist said unlike snow removal and the public works department, the rec center isn’t a necessity. Councilman Nordquist said without a yearly infusion of impact assistance money, the rec center would have closed long ago.
Nordquist said impact funds allocated for the rec center would be better used for essential projects around town, such as road repair. The councilman pointed to the rec center as the sole reason why town services are not being properly maintained.
Another resident asked the council if they had contacted Congresswoman Harriet Hageman about obtaining federal funding for the rec center. Councilman Nordquist said the government would likely decide the rec center wasn’t worth keeping open for such a small population.
Councilman Nordquist said the mine companies, who built the rec center to entice workers to come to Hanna, did not leave a trust to fund the facility. The building was gifted to the town when the mines closed, and the town has struggled to keep it open for the past 30 years.
Carbon County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Yvonne Johnson told everyone not to lose hope. Johnson said staff from state senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis’ offices toured the town last year. Johnson said she attended a federal funding summit and learned that grants may be available for the town.
Other ideas discussed during the meeting were removing the rec center from the town’s payroll and turning it into a non-profit entity, a suggestion met with enthusiasm by the council. Also, asking Carbon County School District #2 for more funding for the use of the facility was mentioned. The council said they would consider that idea as well.
Citizens recommended holding more events in the rec center, but the town council said volunteers are hard to come by.
Councilman Nordquist said a monthly fee of $40 applied to every resident would cover the rec center’s operational costs. However, the councilman said that idea wasn’t being realistically considered at the time.
The meeting ended with town officials saying they would take the public’s suggestions into consideration. In the end, town officials said the community needed to support the rec center by using the facility and paying the membership fees.
