The Spirit Centre project is definitely costing town ratepayers a lot of money, but after really looking at the facility, few could argue it hasn’t been worthwhile.
On Saturday morning several dozen people gathered in the facility, which the town and the Spirit Foundation expect to be finished within the next few months.
It was clear from overhearing the snippets of conversations and speaking with many of those on the tour that the overall reaction was one of excitement and anticipation. Granted, the majority of the people on the tour were councillors, Spirit Foundation members and other supporters of the project, but as residents it is worth bearing in mind that everybody in town is a stakeholder in this project.
After all, each one of us is paying for this project through our tax revenue — past, present and future. That being said, each one of us will have the opportunity to enjoy this facility for decades to come.
But nobody’s mentioned the elephant in the room.
Town taxpayers are on the hook for the bulk of the $15 million price tag, since Westlock County declined to get involved in funding this huge piece of infrastructure. County residents seem to have been opposed to this project through the planning and construction phases, and as such the county has not contributed to the capital costs of the building.
As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, however, there will be county residents lining up to use the arena, the fieldhouse, the walking track and the rest of the facilities.
What this means is that unless the town decides to establish some sort of a differential fee structure, where county residents pay more on the user-fee end of things just as town residents have paid more on the construction end of things, town ratepayers will essentially be subsidizing county residents’ recreation costs. This would clearly be unfair to town residents. On the other hand, what of the county residents who have supported this project from the start and played instrumental roles in the fundraising efforts? Should they, too, pay more to use the facility?
It will not be easy to come to an equitable solution on this matter, and the sooner we start talking about it, the better.
