Pool levy will be on tax bills

A special levy for 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which went before Colfax voters in 2016 and was believed to have failed because it didn’t reach 60 percent approval, will be on the city tax bills for this year. The levy is expected to bring in approximately $81,661 in revenue this year and the funds will be used to operate the swim pool.

The levy measure was revived after city officials learned the levy, which came with a proposal to form a parks and recreation district, actually passed because it needed a majority of yes votes and not the 60 percent. Final vote count on the measure was 755 yes, 620 no for an approval rate of just less than 55 percent.

The news of the measure’s revival bumped a tentative city plan for pool operation which would have required an injection of $32,000 in “outside funds” before the pool could be opened this year. Plans have been in the works for a fund drive to raise the $32,000 and open the pool.

City Finance Director Chris Mathis said the city had contacted the assessor’s office and the state Department of Revenue after learning the levy measure would be revived. Mathis was authorized by the city council Jan. 16 to apply to get the levy certified and on the tax bills for this year. She said last Wednesday was about the last day the levy could be added to the tax billings. The county assessor had been advised in advance and held the slot for certification open.

Revenue from tax payments is expected to begin arriving in April. City council members noted the low reserve in the city’s parks budget could be used, if needed, to pay bills for the pool’s operation this summer and then be replenished with eventual revenue from the tax levy. A large part of the tax revenue arrives after the Oct. 31 payment deadline.

News of the 2016 measure’s approval also leaves the city with the task of organizing a parks and recreation district.

The move for the proposal began with an attempt to form a parks and recreation district with the Colfax school district to provide a larger tax base for any pool proposals. That move stalled when county commissioners declined a request to put the measure before residents in the rural part of the district.

That left the city with a proposal to form its own parks and recreation district.