Ballot Proposition Regarding Spray Park

For years, residents have been requesting the Town build a spray park. We were looking into it in 2020, but held off due to the pandemic and its affect on the Town budget. While there have been a lot of proponents for the spray park, there have also been detractors. As it would represent a significant expenditure of Town funds, including capital reserve funds which require a permissive referendum to spend, we decided to move it from a permissive referendum to a ballot referendum. As such, voters in Henrietta will get to decide whether to build a spray park or not. The referendum will read as follows:

Proposition: To Authorize the Expenditure from the Town of Henrietta Building Capital Reserve Fund to Pay a Part of the Cost of Construction of a Spray Park at Veterans Memorial Park in the Town of Henrietta.

The Town of Henrietta has proposed to construct a spray park, including a splash pad, a building with changing rooms, restrooms, and pump and control systems for the splash pad, an expanded parking lot, and the associated infrastructure for the spray park, all at Veterans Memorial Park in the Town of Henrietta, with a total estimated cost of $1,070,000.00, but only if $250,000.00 from the Town of Henrietta’s Building Capital Reserve Fund is approved to be paid towards a part of the estimated cost, with the remaining balance of the cost to be paid through a combination of funds from the Town of Henrietta’s general fund balance and budgeted dollars, including a $200,000.00 increase in the Town of Henrietta tax levy. Shall the expenditure of $250,000.00 from the Town of Henrietta’s Building Capital Reserve Fund be approved to be expended and paid towards a part of the cost of a proposed spray park at Veterans Memorial Park in the Town of Henrietta?

If you vote yes, we would expend the money and build the spray park as well as increase the tax levy. If you vote no, we would not build the spray park not use the capital funds, and not increase the tax levy by $200,000.

For those wondering what the affect of a $200,000 increase in the tax levy would do, it would increase our tax rate by 4.23-cents per $1,000 of assessed value. So if your house is assessed at $300,000, it means you would pay an additional $12.71 in taxes over what you would have paid without the increase.

In subsequent years, the additional tax revenue could be used for projects such as: a new bandshell as the current one is nearing the end of its life, a pedestrian bridge along the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Park, acoustic insulation in the ceiling of the Recreation Center so you can understand what people are saying during events, a new cabin at Martin Road Park, Senior Center improvements, and building a Riverwalk Trail.

The spray park project would include the splash pad, changing rooms, and expanded parking lot and be located just south of the main playground.