Lecompton ? Even with financial help from the state, building Lecompton’s first public swimming pool could double the town’s property taxes.

And losing out on the state grant would deepen the city’s own financial commitment even more enough to increase the tax hit by another 110 percent.

“You don’t get anything for nothing, that’s for sure,” said Nancy Howard, who backs the project as a member of the Lecompton City Council. “We’ve always wanted a pool here in Lecompton. Not all our kids play ball. It also would be a gathering place for the community. Our community needs this.”

The city, northwest of Lawrence, is working to build a $755,000 outdoor aquatic center complete with a diving well, zero-depth entry area, bathhouse and a parking lot for 31 cars on a 2.7-acre city lot at the west edge of town.

Supporters say the pool will help the city get in front of imminent growth, as developer J. Stewart forges ahead with plans for annexing up to 1,000 acres and adding a water-treatment plant to handle up to 1,500 new homes.

“The growth in Lawrence and Douglas County is coming this way,” said Nick Fergus, another council member who backs the project. “You can see it coming. It’s inevitable. It’s just a matter of time.”

But the plan still has a big hurdle to clear before current city residents all 621 of them could expect a chance to dive into the clear, blue water.

The project, as proposed, is contingent on winning approval of a $377,500 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing. Council members applied for the grant this month and expect to receive a decision in mid-January.

Pool supporters remain optimistic, but they concede that losing the grant could force the project to be delayed, downsized or scrapped altogether.

“We’re excited,” said Brenda Hastert, a member of the city’s pool committee. “Of course, we’ll be more excited if we get the grant.”

Competitive program

City council member Nick Fergus supports Lecompton's attempt to build its first public swimming pool with money from a community development grant. City leaders are considering tax increases to fund the balance of the cost.

With the state’s money, city officials would jump in immediately and hire consultants to draw up detailed plans, which would be completed by March 15. Construction would start in mid-May and be finished by Halloween.

But they know the competition will be stiff.

This year fewer than 20 of the 55 applications filed by small cities for $4 million in state-administered Community Development Block Grant financing will be approved, said Sally Lunsford, a department spokeswoman. And Lecompton’s request is the first ever from any city asking for help building a pool.

Such CDBG funds are available to all but the state’s six largest cities, as long as the proposed projects would serve populations meeting low- to moderate-income guidelines.

Lecompton officials say 61 percent of the city’s residents meet the state’s income standards, and Lunsford confirmed that the pool would meet requirements for a “community improvement” as outlined in the grant program.

But that doesn’t mean state officials are ready to dive in with the cash.

“This swimming pool will be competing with fire stations, fire trucks, ambulances, senior centers, community centers, health departments and other community needs,” Lunsford said. “They’re competing with projects that also are much needed in other communities.

“You can read into that what you wish.”

And the grant, if approved, still would pay only half of the project’s bills.

Tax bill boost?

City officials are looking at other options for finding the other $377,500, but one is included in the city’s grant application: Raise the city’s current property-tax rate by 110 percent.

The hike would cost the owner of a Lecompton home valued at $100,000 another $155 in city property taxes each year.

“It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard,” said Dorothy Shaner, a downtown property owner who served on the council until 1994.

“Anybody that thinks a small town with 600 people needs a pool I don’t see how we could possibly do it. There’s too many other things we need,” Shaner said.

Among them: An estimated $541,800 overhaul of Woodson Avenue, also known as County Road 1023, through the middle of town to improve drainage and preserve its 114-year-old stone curbs. Council members have been seeking a state grant for that project since at least 1999, with no success.

Sylvester Rothwell, 82, figures the city could leave a better infrastructure legacy than a pool for his granddaughter, who’s building a new home on part of his 19-acre homesite just south of Woodson Avenue.

“They don’t need a damn pool up here not yet,” said Rothwell, who’s watched his tax bill jump more than 800 percent since moving to town in 1947. “We’ve got a lot more needs up here. We need a water system before we need a pool.”

But pool supporters remain unfazed.

Janet Bauman, who helps run Wee Blessings Day Care in town, sees the pool as a safe, clean and fun alternative for dozens of children in Lecompton and surrounding towns. She figures that the tax increase plus the additional $30,000 to $100,000 it would take to operate and care for the pool each year clearly would pay off.

Especially with more people on the way.

“If you want to look into the future, you have to go with the future,” she said. “You have to keep up with it.”

Majority rules

Bauman isn’t alone.

Howard, who’s been pushing for a pool for at least five years, said a public hearing called to discuss the project in August drew about 50 residents, where they heard about the pool’s design, location and likely financial implications.

“They didn’t fuss about it at the meeting,” Howard said, of the potential tax hit. “We took a show of hands, and a majority of the people were for the pool.”

Council members said they would investigate using revenues from sales taxes to help pay the bills for a new pool, but not until the state reaches a decision about the grant.

There’s no sense worrying about it now, they said, because even the likelihood of a fast-approaching population boom wouldn’t be enough to convince council members to take on a $755,000 project all by themselves.

“If the grant fails, it’s dropped right there,” said Fergus, a lifelong Lecompton resident who joined the council last year. “A pool’s not a need. It’s never going to be something you’ll absolutely have to have to have a thriving, successful community.”