November 17, 2003

 

 

Dear Swimming Friends,

Wisconsin Swimming has an opportunity to play an important part in developing a new pool capable of handling our largest meets. At the October 28 LSC meeting, Waukesha Express Swim Team (WEST) presented a proposal, asking for a donation of $25,000 from the LSC to help complete the fundraising for a pool replacement project at Waukesha South High School. The Wisconsin Swimming Board of Directors and House of Delegates felt that this decision was important enough that it should be voted on by all clubs, not just the ones at the meeting that night. Because of the time constraints WEST is under, a special committee was formed to review the proposal, distribute it to the LSC membership and get your feedback and approval before making a commitment to WEST.

I am asking you to carefully consider the information presented and give me your input and your club’s vote, via your LSC representative, by December 1st. The LSC Board of Directors will meet after that date and, using the responses you give us, decide whether to make a commitment of this money to the project.

As General Chair of Wisconsin Swimming, and as chair of the special committee, I would like to give you some background on the process and answer some questions you might have about it.

First, the background. As you may know, Wisconsin Swimming has made a donation of $5,000, in each of the past two years, to the Schroeder YMCA for the purpose of repairs and replacement of timing equipment in the competition pool. Although controversial, Wisconsin Swimming, through a vote of it’s House of Delegates, approved the donations, in part because of the importance of that facility to our swimmers.

This year, in the September Finance Committee meeting and also at the October LSC meeting, Schroeder YMCA asked for a one-time donation of $30,000, representing the final 25% of a project to completely replace the score boards and all the wiring and controllers for the timing system in the pool. This donation was to be in place of continuing $5,000 donations over the next several years. The Finance Committee reported that it was within the financial capability of the LSC to support the project, (I will talk more about the finances later), and the House of Delegates agreed that this money would have an immediate, important impact for competitive swimming in Wisconsin. The House of Delegates voted to approve the donation.

At the same LSC meeting, the Board of Directors and the House of Delegates received, for the first time, the proposal from WEST. Because the Finance Committee had not had a chance to review the new proposal, the House of Delegates voted to form a special Finance Committee to review the proposal, disseminate information to the entire LSC and solicit input from all clubs. The committee was to be composed of the members of the standing Finance Committee, plus two representatives from each sectional, in order to provide geographic diversity. The reason for this approach was WEST’s deadline of mid-December to make a commitment to the Waukesha School District on it’s entire $1 million fundraising effort. This deadline precluded deferring the vote until the next LSC meeting in January. If WEST is unable to complete the fundraising by that time and unable to build the facility as described in its proposal, Wisconsin Swimming would be released from any commitment for its donation.

The committee met on November 13 and received the proposal from representatives of WEST. They asked many questions about the proposal and discussed the financial impact on the LSC. In the end, the committee voted to recommend approval of the donation. The vote was not unanimous, however, and a dissenting opinion is presented also.

Here is the Finance Committee position, condensed from both the September meeting and this recent one.

Wisconsin Swimming is in excellent financial position. As of the end of October, the current assets are $209,000, (I am using round numbers here), of which $157,000 are unrestricted funds. The remaining $52,000 represent the Travel Fund, which, may only be used for that purpose. Although the operating expenses are expected to be $248,00 for this year, a large portion, $192,000 includes registration fees which are "passed through" to USA Swimming. Our "real" operating expenses are expected to be about $56,000 for this year. USA Swimming requires the LSC to keep at least 9 months operating expenses in "reserve". As you can see we have, in fact, nearly three years of reserve funds for our real operating expenses.

Considering the cash flow, Wisconsin Swimming has a $40,000 CD coming due in January, which could provide the funds for both the Schroeder project and the first part of the WEST project. The WEST donation could also be spread out over five years in the amount of $5000 within the regular operating budget. The Finance Committee also included in the 2004 budget, an amount of $20,000 to cover the possibility that all state meets would be bid with the LSC covering pool rental. Considering that WEST is offering free pool rental for 4 meets, that amount in future budgets would match the donation amount if spread over five years. Alternately, if the donation was made in a lump sum, it could be considered the same as "pre-paying" pool rental which is budgeted in future years.

So, with the background covered, here are the specific documents related to the proposal:

If you have questions, here are some people you can ask:

As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, we are asking you to make yourself heard, through your LSC House of Delegates representative. Please have him/her send your comments and your recommendation to me, by email or phone by December 1 so the Board of Directors can make the most informed decision.

 

 

Dale Nickels dale@stdnet.com
General Chair, Wisconsin Swimming, Inc.
Phone: (h) 608-848-6354; (w) 608-227-6100 / FAX: 608-227-6109