Questions raised about funding of new King recreation centre

'I wonder if the best use of our money is on a third rec centre'

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 21, 2020
Laura Broadley

A township-wide recreation centre is in the works, but before the design is even finished, questions have been raised about money and how it might affect the wallets of King residents.

King resident Jennifer Anstey wants answers to some questions she has about how the new recreation centre could affect her tax bill in the future.

“We are a really small town, population-wise. We have a large space, yes, but the number of people is relatively small. So, I wonder if the best use of our money is on a third rec centre,” Anstey said. “I just wonder about why we need to have a pool in King -- but maybe I am in the minority.”

The total cost of the recreation centre is $37 million, with about 80 per cent expected to come from developer contributions.

King Township and Seneca College entered into a partnership in 2016 in which the college leases 25 acres of land (where the recreation centre is to be built), to the municipality for 60 years, at a nominal rate.

The tender for the contract to build the centre is expected to go out in the summer and construction is set to start in October.

Anstey said it’s not just about capital costs to build the centre that she’s concerned about, but the operational costs as well.

“How much does it cost to run this place and who’s in charge of paying that bill?” Anstey said.

Chris Fasciano, director of parks, recreation and culture, said the funding formula for the building of the centre, articulated to council, was that $32- $33 million of the $37-million cost would be funded by developer contributions, with the remainder being financed by borrowing.

The operation costs would come from user fees.

“There would be, potentially, some tax-supported dollars, depending on how much is recovered from the user fees,” Fasciano said.

A resident survey was conducted to determine what amenities would be included.

“The rec centre has been identified within our long-term growth forecast for awhile and was most recently adopted as a part of our facilities master-plan exercise that was based upon community consultation, council participation, stakeholder input and ultimately, council approval,” Fasciano said.

Community input on the township-wide recreation centre is still being accepted online at the municipality’s citizens’ forum, SpeaKing.