I'm not sure how I feel yet about this legislation which would allow local swim clubs to receive a 100 property tax credit-- a pretty nifty benefit of operating a swim club, ya gotta admit! But I will tell you what I do see here-- a screwed up story of supply and demand.
Outside of CA property and private gyms (such as the YMCA in Ellicott City), apparently there exist only seven facilities for swimming in the county; the county-run one at the Roger Carter Center and the six nonprofit facilities that would be subject to the legislation. In looking at a handypdandy map of the county, except for the Mt. Airy facilty, the other five exist within a short drive of a CA-managed pool.
It's very nice that Courtney Watson, the sponsor of the legislation, is looking into a possible way by which CA could be included in the legislation. But she shouldn't feel obligated to do so.
I fault Rob Goldman of CA for not being astute enough to look at the marketplace here. What if CA's pools competed directly with these privately-operated facilities? Obviously the other facilities are having problems operating; hence the legislation. I'm guessing that although the CA facilitiy would be a bit further away, a membership option could be designed for pool access only that would allow residents from a nearby community access to the CA pool nearest them. Heck, for a premium they could enjoy access to all CA pools, meaning no more bumming guest passes off of CA resident friends and family. And to you CA purists who think that CA has no business marketing to non-CA residents... how do the golf courses sustain themselves, exactly?
What an idea! Glad I thought of it.
The credit is only for nonprofit pools. So, for-profit pools are excluded. The credit is only for operations that are exclusively pools, so that may exclude some outfits. Many HOA pools aren't taxed separately, so they're not covered.
Posted by: Jeff | June 16, 2011 at 05:32 AM
You didn't think of it. CA actually does market to non-Columbia residents and has seemingly affordable membership options for them. If anything, this legislation would give competitors a leg up over CA.
Posted by: Joe | June 16, 2011 at 09:19 AM
Hey Joe,
CA does NOT do what I mention in my post-- that is, compete directly with neighborhood swim clubs. Sorry, try again.
Posted by: Marshmallow Man | June 17, 2011 at 04:34 PM