NATCHEZ — Officials have projected a budget with approximately $40,000 in revenue and just a few thousand dollars less projected in expenses for the first year of Natchez’s community swimming pool, with the caveat being that the figure is an educated guess.

Though the YMCA arrived at its projections by extrapolating figures from budgets of its other swimming pools, the reality is that this pool presents the challenge of being an entirely new and unique venture to Natchez, YMCA of Natchez Director Alice Agner said.

“We won’t know (for certain) until we get a season under us,” Agner said.

What the actual budget will look like will hinge upon how many people are visiting the pool, located at 352 Liberty Road near the Adams County Safe Room.

The YMCA’s loose projections have the pool taking in $39,500 from pool passes, swim team fees, event rentals and swim classes, while expending approximately $32,000 on overhead, maintenance, payroll and insurance.

As Agner stressed, however, those figures are estimations based on other pools, and the YMCA will be able to predict with more certainty as time goes on.

Though the figures, which Agner called conservative, show a net gain of $7,290, the realistic goal for this year is simple.

“We are hoping to break even,” Agner said. “The goal is to at least break even or to at least keep any loss to a minimum.”

Any revenue the pool takes in will go toward covering the expenses of the pool to the Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission, Agner said.

“The YMCA doesn’t keep any of the money,” Agner said, though she did point out that the revenue would cover payroll of YMCA employees who work at the pool. “The Y is just here to operate and manage on behalf of the taxpayers and citizens of Adams.”

Another factor that could affect the budget’s outlook would be if the pool stays open year-round, which it is currently not slated to do. The YMCA currently has the capability to operate the pool through October, though Agner said Natchez leaders could decide to keep the pool to be open throughout the year if they can find a way to fund it.