Bay Co. community pool millage passes by small margin

BAY CO., Mich. (WNEM) - A pool proposal in Bay County to bring back a former community staple passed by just an arm's length.

The millage will raise property taxes by 35 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value in Bay County.

"Extremely excited, and of course, ecstatic that it passed. It's just a case where we feel the people were heard over politics," said Holly Watson, a community advocate for the Bay County Community Center Outdoor Public Pool project.

She is glad that voters approved a 20-year millage for a new outdoor pool. It will pay for constructing, equipping, furnishing, maintaining and operating the pool area for public use.

The millage is projected to raise over $1.2 million dollars in its first year.

The pool, located at the Bay County Community Center in Bay City, would be a multi-purpose pool used for education, recreation, and competition.

"It was a sleepless night. We were all in a group chat watching the numbers come in. And finally, I think it was shortly after 2 a.m., the county website had the unofficial results, and all the precincts were in, and then we saw that we won, but we were still too scared to celebrate at that point," Watson said.

She said she'll work with the Bay County Recreation and Facilities Department to create a design of the pool area.

"We are hoping it will be an activities pool, as well as a competition pool. I know that the community has said multiple times it would like a zero-point entry pool. The slide was very popular with the old pool, we're hoping to incorporate some sort of slide in this pool as well," Watson said.

There were just over 54,000 ballots cast on the millage, and the difference between yes and no came down to under 200 votes.

"We very much appreciate them, and we promise we will stay involved, and let this project be a big success for all of Bay County," Watson said.

The millage will run through 2043, with the first property tax increase reflected on the 2025 winter tax bill.

Watson said the goal is to have the new pool completed by 2027.

She said her group will be seeking corporate sponsorship for free swim days so that all kids in Bay County have access to the pool.