UPDATES: Baldwin Council Opts to Keep Swimming Rates Mostly the Same

UPDATES and CORRECTIONS published below in italics (Thursday, April 18, at 10:05 a.m.).

After toying with the idea of raising Baldwin Borough Swimming Pool rates by $5 per season pass for 2013, the Baldwin Council decided on Tuesday night to keep the pool's rates mostly the same as they were in 2012.

The proposed rate increase was considered as a way to offset the pool's increasing expenses, but the council opted instead for the implementation of half-season passes that will become available in mid-July.

Half-day passes will also be available at a cost of $3 per day. (A full-day pass costs $6.) The discounted price will be available at or after 4 p.m. but only on weekdays.

The idea is to entice buyers with a prorated price.

"When you get to the middle of July, (some potential buyers) start saying, 'It doesn't make economic sense for us to buy a full season pass,'" borough Manager John Barrett said when discussing the matter at a council meeting in March.

The same rationale is applied for those wishing to swim later in the day.

For 2013, half-season passes will cost half as much as full-season passes do.

Here are the full-season prices (same as in 2012, except for senior passes, which are being increased in cost from $8 to $15 and the fifth resident per non-Baldwin household, whose cost is being increased from $45 to $65):

• Baldwin Borough residents can purchase two season passes for their households for $50 each, while non-residents are charged $75 each for the first two passes in their households.

• The third, fourth and fifth season passes per household cost $30 each for Baldwin residents, while non-residents pay $65 each for the third, fourth and fifth person and $45 each for the sixth.

• Passes for the sixth Baldwin resident per household cost $20 each.

• Senior citizens (aged 65 and older) can purchase season passes for $15 each (residents and non-residents), and season passes for preschoolers also cost $15 each.

Click here for more Baldwin Borough news.

 ---

Follow the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Sign up for the (free) daily Baldwin-Whitehall newsletter.