VGCA Pool Costs Self Managed vs Pool Management Company
Please take about a minute to read this post. Thank you.
I posted a few polls on Facebook to get us all thinking about what it costs to run our pool.
Here are the answers for us self-managing. Self-managing is 100% volunteer run and maintained, the only personnel costs we have are for the lifeguards.
Chemicals costs = $4500
Lifeguard costs = $16,000
Maintenance, supplies, painting, repairs = average $4500/yr.
Roughly it costs us $25K a year to self-manage our pool and provide a great atmosphere for our families AND also employ 10+ teens and teach them the responsibilities associated with such an important job and often their first job.
Prior to COVID, we were paying $25K to a pool management company to handle lifeguard and chemical costs. We (volunteers) were handling maintenance, supplies, painting, and repairs when needed. C OVID was a blessing for us…the pool management company was not going to open us due to unknowns and staffing issues they were having. The VGCA Board made the decision to self-manage in the summer of 2020 and we had a safe, successful, and wonderful summer escape during the pandemic.
Last summer we had two quotes from local pool management companies and both came back at $46K for lifeguard and chemical costs. We would still be responsible for supplies, maintenance, and repairs. That simply is not something VGCA can afford, thus why volunteers are crucial to our pool.
Consider, we have had to deal with incremental increases in minimum wage from $7.50/hr in 2020 to $12.41/hr for 2025. Nearly a 66% increase. Pool chemical costs have increase by about 40% since 2020 as well (similar to everyone’s grocery bills). Yet, we have been able to maintain pool memberships with only a slight increase in costs in those 5 years (approx $50 per membership).
Volunteers are key to the Village Green Community Association and without their help and the continued support of our members, we could not afford to keep the pool open.
So, if you or your family use the pool please consider volunteering time when I ask for help. In the grand scheme of time enjoyed at the pool, I am only asking for a little bit of volunteer time from you. Thank you.
For those that are not pool members, please consider joining as it helps us keep the pool open for the this generation as well as the next! If we do not have enough volunteers or financial support, then the pool may need to be closed and ultimately be filled in similar to other neighborhood pools over the years.
Our pool is in excellent condition and that is due to key volunteers (me, Connor, Ryan G, Ryan L, Peter G, Pete F, Glenn M, and many others) performing significant maintenance and repairs on it over the past 5-7 years.
Please consider supporting the pool or even just donating to VGCA at vgnn.org/join
Thank you!