The $2.2 million Manteca Golf Course Clubhouse – dubbed the Taj Mahal by critics when the project moved forward in the early 1990s – will be the city’s free and clear in 2010.
That’s when the final $225,000 debt payment on the 1994 capital lease with Maryland National Trust Co. is made.
The final payment on the 1978 project that cost $800,000 to add the second nine holes, build the tennis courts and expand the parking lot will be made in 2013. That yearly debt payment is $52,000 with 20 percent of that amount being paid by the parks fee account
The two debt payments represent 22 percent of the golf course’s annual budget that is set up as an enterprise fund where users through the payment of green fees plus lease payments from the golf pro and food concession contracts fund the operation.
The promised day of the municipal golf course being out from under debt from two banks is drawing near just in time for it to become vulnerable as the city struggles to keep dropping revenue from severely impacting general fund services.
The golf course account owes the city’s general fund $1.3 million as of June 30, 2009 as A average of $140,000 is loaned every year from the general fund to balance the enterprise account as required by law that can’t have such funds operating in the red. That is on top of a $155,000 general fund subsidy to offset the impact of reduced Manteca senior play and free youth play. Previous councils have made the subsidy noting that is the only impact the golf course has on the city’s general fund for recreation.
The $155,000 golf course subsidy is also included in this year’s proposed spending plan. The council could yank the subsidy but then they’d still have to loan the money in order to keep the golf course account in the black.
Pressure will be on city leaders to suspend the subsidy and start having the golf course paying back the general fund in 2011 when the $225,000 loan is paid back. The city is still expected to be suffering from the ramifications of the current economic malaise in two years.
If such a move was possible this year – which it isn’t – the city’s general fund would have money on hand that is the equivalent of the cost of compensation of either two firefighters or two police officers for an entire year.
The outlook is clouded by the fact the golf course is aging. Maintenance by city crews has managed to keep components of the course in quality condition but still it is nearing the end of its useful life according to a city report. The original nine holes were constructed in 1965 followed by the back nine in 1979.
The city has been postponing capital improvements for more than five years due to budget concerns.
This year’s request, for an example, included over $500,000 for things such as driving range net replacement to reconstructing cart paths. City Manager Steve Pinkerton declined to include funding for any of the items in the budget.
The council commissioned Economic Research Associates – the same firm that analyzed shopping and finding trends and needs for Manteca – to evaluate the golf course operations. The findings will be incorporated in the 2010-11 fiscal year budget.
That’s when the final $225,000 debt payment on the 1994 capital lease with Maryland National Trust Co. is made.
The final payment on the 1978 project that cost $800,000 to add the second nine holes, build the tennis courts and expand the parking lot will be made in 2013. That yearly debt payment is $52,000 with 20 percent of that amount being paid by the parks fee account
The two debt payments represent 22 percent of the golf course’s annual budget that is set up as an enterprise fund where users through the payment of green fees plus lease payments from the golf pro and food concession contracts fund the operation.
The promised day of the municipal golf course being out from under debt from two banks is drawing near just in time for it to become vulnerable as the city struggles to keep dropping revenue from severely impacting general fund services.
The golf course account owes the city’s general fund $1.3 million as of June 30, 2009 as A average of $140,000 is loaned every year from the general fund to balance the enterprise account as required by law that can’t have such funds operating in the red. That is on top of a $155,000 general fund subsidy to offset the impact of reduced Manteca senior play and free youth play. Previous councils have made the subsidy noting that is the only impact the golf course has on the city’s general fund for recreation.
The $155,000 golf course subsidy is also included in this year’s proposed spending plan. The council could yank the subsidy but then they’d still have to loan the money in order to keep the golf course account in the black.
Pressure will be on city leaders to suspend the subsidy and start having the golf course paying back the general fund in 2011 when the $225,000 loan is paid back. The city is still expected to be suffering from the ramifications of the current economic malaise in two years.
If such a move was possible this year – which it isn’t – the city’s general fund would have money on hand that is the equivalent of the cost of compensation of either two firefighters or two police officers for an entire year.
The outlook is clouded by the fact the golf course is aging. Maintenance by city crews has managed to keep components of the course in quality condition but still it is nearing the end of its useful life according to a city report. The original nine holes were constructed in 1965 followed by the back nine in 1979.
The city has been postponing capital improvements for more than five years due to budget concerns.
This year’s request, for an example, included over $500,000 for things such as driving range net replacement to reconstructing cart paths. City Manager Steve Pinkerton declined to include funding for any of the items in the budget.
The council commissioned Economic Research Associates – the same firm that analyzed shopping and finding trends and needs for Manteca – to evaluate the golf course operations. The findings will be incorporated in the 2010-11 fiscal year budget.
