We have been talking for several days about these municipal swimming pools that must close, because energy prices are through the roof. To fully understand the economic challenges of this file, it is necessary to look at the cost of running a swimming pool that the price of admission is far from being able to cover.
Before the crisis, what cost the most in a municipal swimming pool was, by far, the staff. In 2019, according to data published by vie-publique.fr, the remuneration of employees in charge of reception, maintenance and surveillance represented on average just over 60% of the operating cost of a nautical center managed by a municipality. And the heating of the water in the swimming pools and showers and the electricity used in addition, in particular for lighting, constituted the second expense item with more than 15% of the total cost.
With the energy crisis, the pool more than ever a luxury public service
Again, this is an average. For pools using geothermal energy, the proportion was much lower. But in any case, these figures are no longer valid today. Because it turns out that more than one municipal swimming pool heats its water with natural gas. That is, with the energy whose price has increased the most this year. And, in general, the rise in energy prices means that swimming pools have truly become a luxury public service.
In France, before the energy crisis, the user of a municipal swimming pool paid an average of 22% of its operating cost. But today this cost has obviously skyrocketed. At the moment, we do not have figures for France as a whole. But to get an idea, just take a concrete example. One city was kind enough to be completely transparent in giving us all its figures: Salon-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). In this municipality of 46,000 inhabitants, the municipality manages two establishments.
In summer, the inhabitants of Salón enjoy an outdoor pool with a 50-meter heated Olympic pool. The city complies with the regulations that govern the training of athletes that impose a minimum of 25°C in the basin. When the weather is no longer conducive to outdoor swimming, swimmers and those learning to swim in school can do their laps in the indoor pool.
At Salon-de-Provence, admission should be €70 just to cover costs.
For some users, admission is free and the highest price is 3 euros for residents of the Hall and 4.30 euros for “external” users. On average, the income generated by the box office allows the municipality to earn 3 euros per visit. But these 3 euros are far from covering the running costs of these two establishments.
The municipality has calculated that in 2021, before the rise in energy prices, the cost per user was 58.60 euros. And for this year it has had 70 euros per user. The final amount will depend on the evolution of the prices of your invoices. In other words, 70 euros is the price that users should pay so that these two pools no longer cost the city taxpayers anything. Which obviously doesn’t make sense. But at this price we can still talk about a luxury public service.
And if it is quite legitimate that users do not pay the cost price, it is nevertheless necessary to be aware of this when certain municipalities, in order to lower their bill, decide, for example, to lower the temperature of the shower or sinks a few degrees
Source: BFM TV
