Fillmore Seeks Tax for Pool Upkeep

Fillmore officials will ask voters to approve a $15-a-year parcel tax to maintain a new swimming pool planned for the city’s high school.

The proposed tax is key to a deal between the city and the Fillmore Unified School District to replace the current pool--undersized and closed more than a year ago because of safety concerns--with a competition-sized one. The new facility would be used jointly by the community and the school district.

City leaders have pledged about $1.8 million in redevelopment money toward the project, but only if residents agree to tax themselves to cover maintenance.

The measure, which requires a two-thirds approval to pass, will appear on the March ballot.

“We need the community to show that they want this pool,” said Councilman Evaristo Barajas, who as a youngster spent summer afternoons splashing in the Fillmore High School pool, which has long doubled as the city’s only public pool.

“This has to do with setting priorities,” he added. “And if the community believes a community pool is a high priority, they should be willing to help maintain it.”

Other Ventura County communities have answered a similar call.

Several years ago, Oxnard City Atty. Gary Gillig launched a campaign that collected enough donations to reopen and maintain a community swimming pool in Oxnard’s La Colonia neighborhood that had closed in 1991 because of budget cuts.

And earlier this year, Thousand Oaks residents agreed to tax themselves about $25 a year to pay for expanded recreational opportunities.

That assessment, on more than 49,000 property owners, generates about $1 million annually. Recreation officials say some of that money eventually could be used to build a new 50-meter competition pool.

Fillmore city officials say the $15 assessment would affect about 3,800 property owners and generate about $57,000 a year.

Last month, the City Council unanimously approved a plan to purchase the high school pool and adjacent tennis courts for about $300,000. The school district recently declared the two properties as surplus, paving the way for the city’s purchase.

Plans call for the city to demolish the pool and build one with an adjacent locker room. The city and the school district plan to share the $22,000 cost of renovating the tennis courts.

School board President Virginia de la Pierda joined her colleagues last month in approving the joint venture with the city.

“I believe it’s necessary for the children of this community,” said de la Pierda, who like Barajas spent her summer at the community pool commonly known as “The Plunge.”