Inflation has big impacts for small municipalities
Those looking for a sign of the times may not need to look any further than the Town Park pool in Seven Fields.
Since the beginning of the year, the pool has raised the price of pool memberships and daily rates by 20% for residents and 30% for non-residents. As the price of ice cream bars, candy and snacks from the pool’s Pittsburgh vendor has gone up, the prices on concession items for customers have gone up by $0.25 each. The borough also raised wages for lifeguards from $9 to $15 in order to be more competitive, heading into a summer season where some pools still struggle to field lifeguards.
The climbing prices for pool customers and spiking costs for the borough are just a few of the craters left by a meteor shower of nationwide inflation and supply shortages. The impacts of inflation are making bigger dents than ever for the smaller municipalities and boroughs of Butler County.
Borough manager Tom Smith said that inflation is starting to have a “tremendous impact” on projects in Seven Fields.
Beyond the waters of the pool, the borough faces a 5% annual increase in the price of its utility billing software, and saw the cost of paving jump up an additional $13,000 from the planned price of $225,000 projected back in January.
A portion of this story is shared with you as a digital media exclusive. To read the full story and support our local, independent newsroom, please subscribe at butlereagle.com.
