Reading Mr. Holmberg’s Letter to the Editor, I thought he was right on target with the subsidies issue and dug out the January 3 News-Herald article claiming the YMCA finishes year with budget on target. After a closer look and simple mathematics, the YMCA had a net loss of over $260,000 ($220,000 plus $40,000 from previous year funding). What business would build a multimillion dollar complex fully knowing that they would lose $260,000 the first year?
At the first informational meeting, Commissioner Sue Hakes handed me a copy of the projected financials and after reviewing it for a few minutes, I found they predicted a $330,000 loss the first year and higher losses in future years. At that meeting, she said they would look into the numbers.
Cook County taxpayers voted to have a recreational tax, but they did not vote to be taxed for 35 percent of the YMCA revenue. This donation was blessed by previous Cook County commissioners and an advisory group.
They voted to support the YMCA by making taxpayer funds available for budget shortfalls up to $100,000 annually, not donating a revenue line item (at least that was how it was explained to me).
The county is also paying $84,903 for the old Community Center, which was supposed to be paid for by the recreational sales tax. That amount wipes out the average annual $75,000 savings from the old pool contributions. Just because they named it the Community YMCA, it doesn’t justify stealing donations from all county taxpayers.
I think that all the Cook County taxpayers should be sent a yearend report from the YMCA since we are all paying contributions. Numbers don’t lie but politicians have a tendency to ignore the facts. Maybe our new board of commissioners will work harder to represent all of the Cook County taxpayers instead of a select few.
The taxpayers of Cook County should not be forced to buy useless memberships with our tax money. There is a simple answer to the shortfall. At this time, the YMCA members are paying an average of $20 per month in dues. If the YMCA management increases that amount to approximately $31.50 per month in 2015, the county will not need to contribute tax dollars.
The YMCA should be run as a business. This is not rocket science. Any consultant would advise that, “if revenues are short, raise the prices or cut the costs.” We were told that the YMCA would be self-sufficient, not needing subsidies for a few taxpayers. No wonder our taxes continue to increase annually.
James Vannet
Grand Marais
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