An open letter to the Voters of Park & Recreation District No. 1 of Clallam County:

Creation of the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center MPD at the primary election on Aug. 4 offers the best opportunity available to keep SARC open. The SARC Board of Commissioners (Clallam County Park & Recreation District No. 1) urges your support of ballot measure Proposition 1.

I am writing on behalf of the SARC Board of Commissioners to provide information to voters to explain the proposal. In February 2015, the SARC board asked the voters to approve a maintenance & operation levy. This was the first request for a levy since 2002, operating losses during those 13 years being paid from reserves accumulated when there was a tax levy. This proposition received a 57.5 percent approval vote. Passage required 60 percent approval.

The levy rate sought was 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The failure of this levy placed SARC in a perilous financial situation.

The current ballot issue is to form a Metropolitan Park District (MPD). Changing SARC to an MPD would allow SARC long-term financial stability. Many have offered ideas but the board strongly believes that there are no simple solutions.

It is important to note that across the U.S. there is no single public mixed-use facility, with a pool, that can balance its budget solely on user fees without taxpayer support. SARC is unique in having avoided for so long the need for taxpayer support.

In March, the SARC board passed a resolution supporting the efforts of a citizens’ committee to seek an election to form an MPD. If formed, that district would have a permanent tax levy and could assume the functions of SARC and support those functions with both user fees and the permanent levy.

The Citizens for SARC Committee has proposed the same tax rate as proposed by the board in February; 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The board believes this is the best long-term solution for SARC. Passage of the proposition to create an MPD to assume SARC’s functions requires a vote of 50 percent-plus-one vote.

A local example of an MPD is the William Shore Memorial Pool in Port Angeles. The MPD was created in 2009 to operate the pool in Port Angeles. Their levy amount was proposed to be 15 cents per $1,000. That amount was actually levied and the amount raised from taxes has remained the same since 2009.

There are 17 Metropolitan Park Districts in Washington and 15 levy at amounts between 15 cents and 52 cents per $1,000, well below the maximum rate of 75 cents per $1,000 permitted by state law.

If the SARC MPD proposition passes on Aug. 4 of this year, it will have the lowest rate of any MPD in the state at 12 cents per $1,000.

The SARC board would like you to support Proposition 1 to prevent SARC from facing closure in 2016. If you would like more information, contact SARC Executive Director Scott Deschenes at 683-3344.

Frank Pickering is chairman of the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center Board of Directors.