Will Wauconda pool plan float?

Judy Porton volunteered for walkathons, dinners and other events in the 1970s to raise funds to build a pool in Wauconda. She hopes all her hard work will pay off with interest Feb. 5.

The Wauconda Park District is asking voters to boost its tax rate to pay for construction of an outdoor aquatic center and expansion of the current park district facility, a $12 million project.

"This will be great for the community and great for old people and young people," said Porton, who has lived in the village since she was 8 years old. She was a member of the Wauconda Township Pool Foundation formed in the 1970s to help with fund-raising efforts to build an indoor pool at Wauconda High School.

If voters approve the plan, the tax rate will increase by about 17 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation. That would cost the owner of a $265,000 home about $142 per year.

Porton was one of a dozen residents who attended a park district open house Saturday. Some, however, were not sold on the project, which would add 4,500 square feet to the community center and build a water park with a zero-depth entry area, a "lazy river" with a slow-moving current, water slides, lap lanes, picnic spots and concession areas.

Lois Schroeder, a 10-year resident, said she would not support the referendum question. She lives in the Lakepointe community, which has its own outdoor pool.

"I'm not interested in upping my taxes to pay for all the frills, bells and whistles," she said. "I'm retired and living on a fixed income and think that this is a heck of a time to introduce this."

Scott Merrill, a long-time Wauconda resident, said he won't use a pool and doesn't approve of a property tax hike to build one.

"One of my questions is how many people would use it," he said.

For years, Wauconda has been pursuing -- sometimes actively and at other times less so -- the idea of a village pool. A 2000 referendum request for money to build a pool failed by just 80 votes, Director of Parks and Recreation Nancy Burton said.

What's getting lost is that the referendum also includes the expansion of the community center, Burton said.

"This would double the size of the fitness center and allow us to increase programming," she said.