Bella Vista to raise price of golfing fees
Posted on Friday, October 10, 2008
BELLA VISTA - Rising costs and inflation are the reasons Property Owners Association General Manager Tommy Bailey gave when he recommended increasing golf fees next year.
He announced the recommendation to the POA golf committee during its regular meeting Wednesday.
As part of the budget planning, he's suggesting the POA Board increase fees for 18 holes of golf by $ 2 and for nine holes by $ 1. The current fees for members with identification cards are $ 15 for 18 holes and $ 9 for nine holes.
For the last three years, the POA has lost revenue because of declining building fees, lot sales and amenity fees, Bailey said. It's about the same amount of revenue the POA gained from giving the city the municipal services, he added.
"That $ 4 million got eaten up really quickly with inflation," said Richard Young, golf committee chairman.
When the POA calculated the proposed increase in golf fees, staff estimated that rounds would decline from about 225, 000 this year to 207, 000 next year, Bailey said.
The continual decline in rounds is the problem, committee member Butch Newby said.
"We've got to open the courses for additional play," he said. "We don't have enough players to use our facilities."
He asked about several ways to allow more nonmembers to play golf on POA courses, such as selling memberships or creating a club within a club.
The club-within-a-club concept would allow a group to lease a course, such as the Dogwood Hills Golf Course, Young explained. Belonging to Dogwood Hills would give the lessees reciprocal rights to the other golf clubs.
The ideas require changing the association's Declaration and Covenants, POA Board liaison Bill Johnson said.
A couple of years ago, the POA tried to change the way the documents were amended but could only get 18, 000 people to return their ballots - about 5, 000 short of what was needed, Johnson said. The association sent out ballots about four times at a cost of around $ 20, 000 to $ 30, 000 for each mailing. Of the ballots they got back, 85 percent were in favor of the amendments.
"That's the barrier we're up against," he said. "Nobody's found a way around it yet."
Another proposal about raising golf fees another dollar came from committee member Al Yanik. He suggested adding a surcharge to the golf fees and using the money collected to improve and maintain cart paths on a regular schedule.
"We need to show the golfing public and the community how we're trying to maintain their assets," Yanik said.
"We're well aware of the deficit in capital," Bailey commented.
"If golf fees go up $ 3 a head, people are going to scream murder, and they're going to stop playing," said Ruth Hatcher, golf committee secretary and vice chairman.
The POA has faced the same increases in cost of living as everyone else, Johnson said.
"I can do without golf, but I can't do without food and electricity," Hatcher said.
"If it's just 50 cents, let's get it started," Yanik said. The committee didn't take any action on his proposal.
Besides working on the income side of the budget, the POA is working to control expenses for 2009, Bailey said. The POA has already bought all its fertilizer for next year.
If the projected price increases for fertilizer come to reality, the association will save about $ 150, 000, golf maintenance manager Casey Crittenden said.
In other matters, the golf committee's meetings will switch from evening to daytime beginning in November. The next meeting will take place at 8: 30 a.m. Nov. 12.
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