Some local city residents and property owners are getting a bit worried that the Crossville City Council is moving closer to passing the $60 million dollar indoor aquatic recreation center.

The problem is that while it would be nice to have the rec center with all the activities and amenities it would offer – the harsh reality is that the city and taxpayers simply cannot afford it.

The City has floated the idea before and the cost for the project came in at around $30 million dollars about five years ago. Nothing much more has been done since then until 2021 when the City acquired 24 acres behind City Hall off Genesis Road with the prospects of building the new rec center there.   Next, the City purchased 10 acres next to TriGreen Equipment company on Main Street last year with the intention of building the rec center at that location.

After the purchase of the two potential locations for the rec center the City hired an architect firm, to the tune of $80,000, to draw up the plans for the rec center and put a price tag on it. The firm came up with three options for the center each with different amenities. The most costly option includes an outdoor pool in addition to indoor pools. However, that option is also the one that comes closer to breaking even each year…but not that close.  Operation of the facility would put the City in the red at an average -$500,000 per year and that does not include debt service to pay back the loan to build the center.

The big question is: How would the City pay for such an undertaking? Seems there are a few options. One would be to raise property taxes to generate more income for the City. If the City raises property taxes to support the rec center and repay the loan to build it-taxes would go up about a dollar more than the current 0.60 per per hundred of assessed value – putting the tax rate at $1.60 per hundred of assessed value.  That is an astronomical jump in taxes. That would effectively almost triple property taxes in the City which would impact any property owners in the City which would also trickle down to rent payments going up.  No one, not even the City Council members want to go that route.

Another option is to borrow the money through bond sales. That would get the money to build the facility but the City would still have to pay back the loan with interest.  According to the City Finance Department, principal and interest would amount to around $3 million dollars per year. When debt service  is added to the rec center operational deficit each year the total deficit would be around -$3.5 million dollars per year potentially for 30 years.  That money also has to be paid with a property tax hike to some extent along with sales tax which has seen an increase with Buc-ee’s coming to town.  Nevertheless, a $3.5 million dollar deficit in the City’s annual budget would still  quickly drain any savings accrued.

The fact is the City doesn’t have enough revenue at this point to support that kind of debt and again the question remains:  how does Crossville pay for the rec center.  The answer is – it can’t at this time.

One possibility would be for the County to join with the City in funding the recreation center project. Since the rec center would benefit both the City and County residents it is logical that both governments should share in the costs of building and operating the center.  Once you fully understand the City and County’s relationship that is an unlikely marriage. We spoke to all the parties involved and it just doesn’t look like a City-County indoor-aquatic center is a possibility at this time. 

Some have questioned why the cost for the rec center is so high when other towns such as Morristown recently built a rec center similar to the one proposed for Crossville for half the cost.  https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/weve-earned-it-new-community-recreation-center-under-construction-in-morristown/51-0ddb38eb-ba6f-4592-a582-b037ba45cf2d