A utility tax increase will help fund Sunnyside’s community pool

Sunnyside’s City Council has approved a 2% utility tax increase to keep the community pool open this year.

“If you have a base rate bill, we’re estimating it’s two to three extra dollars per month, per bill at the minimum level,” City Manager Mike Gonzalez said at a special meeting on Feb. 12.

The measure was approved by a three to one vote. Deputy Mayor Jorge Galvan and councilmembers Vicky Frausto and Julia Hart voted in favor, while councilmember Vicki Ripley voted against. Mayor Dean Broersma and councilmember Keren Vasquez were absent. 

According to the City’s blog, Sunnyside faced a “huge deficit” going into 2025. “The pool was on the chopping block and the community center staff was laid off to save money, along with several other cost-saving measures.”

“The Council has worked extremely hard to get to this point. I want the public to know these monies will go into a line item used strictly for pool operations. They won’t go into our general fund,” said Gonzalez in the City’s blog message.

During public comments at the special meeting in February, some community members said they support keeping the pool open but not a tax.

“The tax is short-sighted. It’s a temporary fix, no guarantee for long-term funding… we need to have a sustainable funding solution, not a tax with no accountability,” said Sunnyside resident Javier Lopez.

A letter presented at the meeting stated that the Sunnyside Daybreak Rotary authorized $50,000 in total to help open the pool. An initial authorization of $38,000 will be used to purchase things like system filters, chlorine feeders and vacuum head poles.

The utility tax will be in effect from March until December, and the council will then decide whether to continue it.

In the meantime, council member Vicky Frausto said they will continue to look for alternatives to keep the facility open without burdening the community.