Valley's pool question goes to voters on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and it would replace a pool more than 50 years old without creating a levy or raising a rate. It asks whether up to half of a sales tax the city already collects, all of which now goes to water and wastewater work, may go toward a new municipal pool instead.
That's why the ballot question about a swimming pool also mentions water mains. It also explains why the concern residents raised most often during this summer's planning sessions was not the slides or the splash pad. They asked what would happen to the pipes.
The pool that last opened in 2024
The old pool in City Park had been open for more than half a century when the city and Waters Edge Aquatic Design started studying its future in the summer of 2026. The study describes code deficiencies and failing infrastructure, and it frames the city's goal as finding a way to get the site open to the public again.
The pool's last full season gives a sense of what the town lost. The Douglas County Post-Gazette reported in March 2025 that more than 1,200 people used it in 2024. City Administrator Cameron Gales told the council that about 79 percent of those users came from Valley, about 26 percent walked to the pool and 14 percent biked. Two in five arrived without a car, which made it a neighborhood pool in the most literal sense.
The pool did not open in 2025. According to the Post-Gazette's October 2025 reporting, preseason inspections turned up plumbing and water-pipe problems. The council's discussion moved from repairing the pool to replacing it. Once more than $150,000 in repairs was approved for a planned 10-day season, the Douglas County electrical inspector found a short in the wiring, and that ended the plans to open.
What the ballot actually reallocates
The question residents will see comes from the Douglas County general election notice, dated September 18, 2026:
Shall the City Council of the City of Valley, Nebraska, be authorized to allocate up to fifty percent (50%) of the revenue the City collects from its one and one-half percent (1.5%) local sales and use tax, on and after January 1, 2027, for the purpose of planning, designing, constructing, equipping, financing, and maintaining a new municipal swimming pool and related aquatic facilities?
The notice spells out both outcomes. A YES vote authorizes the city to allocate up to 50 percent of city sales tax revenue to building a new pool and aquatic facility "while maintaining the City's current plan to replace all critical water mains in four years." A NO vote "will require all of the local sales and use tax to continue to be allocated to water improvement and wastewater improvement projects."
The tax rate stays at 1.5 percent either way. The vote decides where the money goes. The wording also sets a ceiling of "up to" half, which gives the council room below it, and the purpose covers maintaining the pool as well as building it. The allocation would start January 1, 2027.
This post describes the ballot language and makes no recommendation. It is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, so residents with questions about how the measure affects them should check with the city or a qualified professional.
Why the water mains are in the pool question
The wording follows directly from what residents said during the study. Waters Edge's final report found community support for the pool, along with "a concern about how the project will be funded and the impact on the water line replacement project." The report says city leaders told the public the project "will not increase taxes, and it does not adversely affect the water line project." The ballot puts that commitment in writing by naming the four-year water main plan in the YES description.
The water work is underway, and residents on several streets have seen it. The city's FY26 water main notice listed replacements on Reichmuth Road and on Alexander, Charles, Whittingham, Lakewood and Waring streets, swapping cast iron for new PVC. Work was set to begin the week of June 29 and run into mid-September.
Another water project reaches a milestone six days before the election. The city has announced that the water treatment plant expansion is complete. A public ribbon cutting is set for Wednesday, October 28, from 10 to 11 a.m., at the Valley Water Treatment Plant, 5002 N 270 St., with an optional tour afterward.
What residents asked the pool to be
The design came out of two rounds of public input, mostly hosted at the Twin Rivers Branch YMCA. A steering committee met May 27, June 17 and July 20, 2026, and the public open houses were held June 30 and August 5.
The first survey drew 386 responses, and 277 of them came from city residents. More than half of respondents said someone in their household went to an outdoor pool at least once a week. Zero-depth entry was the top-rated feature, followed by play features for young children. Slides and deep water came next. For programming, people asked for recreational swimming, swim lessons and space for parties and events.
From that input, Waters Edge drew four concepts, all dated August 4, 2026:
| Concept | Water area | Splash pad | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Option 1 | 4,816 sq ft | Spray features | Shallow play, sunshelf, plunge area, 25-yard lanes, two body slides, ADA lift; 6,500 sq ft of deck |
| Option 2 | 5,500 sq ft | Yes | 71-foot current channel, diving area, climbing wall, one-meter diving stand, concessions; 9,400 sq ft of deck |
| Option 3A | 3,908 sq ft | 2,100 sq ft | Family slide, body slide, climbing wall, one-meter diving stand |
| Option 3B | 4,631 sq ft | 2,000 sq ft | 25-yard lap lanes, family and body slides, climbing wall, diving stand, shade over the spray features |
The second survey ran from September 9 to October 4. The report counts 117 responses, and 88 of them answered the preferred-layout question. The winner was Option 4, which the report notes is 3B under a new name. Option 3B was also the favorite at the second open house, with 3A drawing some interest as well.
The preferred layout balances the two groups who answered the surveys. It keeps the 25-yard lap lanes that Option 3A gave up for a larger splash pad, and it still has a 2,000-square-foot splash pad and a family slide for the youngest swimmers, who drove the first survey's top answers. It skips Option 2's current channel and concessions, along with the extra 2,900 square feet of deck that Option 2 needed over Option 1.
The survey feedback also favored keeping the pool in City Park. In 2025 the council had considered that site and a second location tied to economic development. If the pool stays in City Park, it stays where a quarter of its 2024 users walked to it.
What the November vote leaves for later
Cost is the biggest open question. Cost estimating was one of the study's five stated objectives, but the published concept sheets list square footage and features without a construction price for any option. The most recent public figure is older. The Post-Gazette reported in March 2025 that a new pool would cost $4 million to $6 million, an estimate given more than a year before these concepts were drawn.
Who would run the pool is also unsettled. The report records public questions about whether the city or a third party would operate it, and it describes no operating agreement with the Twin Rivers YMCA, which hosted the meetings. Operating cost matters as much as construction cost. In March 2025 the city administrator told the council that managing the old pool averaged $27,000 a month. The ballot language anticipates this by including maintenance in what the sales tax could pay for.
Here are the dates ahead:
- Wednesday, October 28, 10 to 11 a.m.: Water treatment plant ribbon cutting and tours, 5002 N 270 St.
- Tuesday, November 3: General election, with the Special City of Valley Election proposition on the ballot.
- January 1, 2027: The earliest date sales tax revenue could be allocated to the pool under the proposition.
The full Valley Aquatic Study, posted by the city on October 12, has the concept drawings, the meeting record and the survey charts for anyone who wants to read the layouts before voting.
If you would like a calm, clear read on how changes in Valley could affect a property you own or are thinking about, Black Tie Realty is glad to sit down with you. Let's Begin.
