Should your tax dollars help save the Sault YMCA? City CAO thinks so

While there is definitely a cost to taxpayers in a plan to keep the struggling Sault YMCA afloat, the city's top bureaucrat says there could be an equal or greater cost to the municipality if it's allowed to fail.

Tonight, Sault Ste. Marie City Council will consider a plan to support the purchase of the YMCA building at 235 McNabb St. by a yet-unnamed charitable foundation, a move that would allow the organization to continue operating its daycare and programming.

Just a few weeks ago, the future of the Y was much more bleak. After being in operation in the Sault for over 120 years, YMCA leadership announced on April 16 that the doors would close for good on May 15 — putting at risk 541 daycare spaces and eliminating almost 170 jobs.

The plan that will be presented to city council on Monday came out of the city's involvement with the working group put in place after last month's devastating announcement, said Tom Vair, the city's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), in an interview with SooToday.

Under the proposed plan, the mystery charitable foundation would purchase the building for $2 million, with the city kicking in more than $500,000 toward the boiler replacement and other improvements. The city would also act as guarantor for the $1 million in lease payments the Sault YMCA is scheduled to make over the next 10 years.

"The city team worked closely with the YMCA and reviewed their financials," Vair said. "We also know that they hadn't missed a mortgage payment in the past. There is risk, but we think that risk is manageable and we want to work closely with the YMCA — and they're willing to work with the city through financial planning and insurance to ensure we do have a sustainable operation there."

In a members meeting held last month, YMCA interim CEO John Haddock said the building requires a number of infrastructure upgrades, including a new roof and boiler.

The $505,000 investment by the city is part of an application to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation that requires matching dollars to undertake capital upgrades of nearly $1 million to the McNabb Street building.

At that April 17 members meeting, Haddock told the crowd that financial pressures have been ongoing for many years at the local Y, but something occurred much more recently that put the organization in a much more difficult position.

"Where we're at today is where we're at today," Haddock said at the meeting. "We have tried to work though some major issues for the last five months and external forces are giving us a tighter timeline to resolve them."

Media was not permitted to ask questions during the members meeting and Sault Y leadership has not granted SooToday an interview request in the weeks since.

When the city's plan to contribute to the effort to save the Sault YMCA was announced on Thursday, some SooToday readers voiced their support for the investment, while others were less than thrilled that a significant amount of taxpayer dollars might be used to prop up members-only programming.

When asked about those comments, Vair said it is a fair criticism. But he also said the cost to the city could be greater if the Y was allowed to close its doors for good.

"There's a lot of programming the YMCA provides that the city does not provide to the community," he said. "So we see value first and foremost in the services they provide."

While YMCAs in other cities have closed in recent years, Vair pointed out some that are thriving through partnerships with their local municipalities.

"In fact, that's the way most operate right now is a partnership with the municipality," he said. "Oftentimes the city owns the facility and the Y runs the programming or there is some kind of lease there."

In exchange for its financial contribution, the city will seek representation on the Sault YMCA's board of directors. Vair said details of that arrangement are still being worked out.

"There are some ways the city could step in with more control if the YMCA ran into future difficulty," he said.

Asked if the Sault YMCA has offered the city an explanation for how it came to the edge of financial ruin, Vair said the city has not asked for that information.

"The YMCA has been transparent in sharing financial information with the city," he said. "We hadn't done a deep dive into the past operation. What we were really focusing on was: Where are we are at now and is there a sustainable organization we can envision into the future?"

An interview request with the Sault YMCA leadership on Friday was not granted. In an emailed statement, the organization confirmed operations at the Y will continue.

"We acknowledge that this has been a very difficult situation for our community to grapple with — most of all, our valued staff team," the statement said. "We offer our deep gratitude to staff, members and families for their resilience and unwavering support during this time."