Privatize public-run recreation facilities?

Posted on June 18, 2007 in City Government by DM

I like Polk County’s plan to privatize the operation of Jester Park Golf Course. According to reports, the $84,000 the county will receive from their selected course management company is more than the course earned for the County last year - and the revenues have been on the decline. So it seems that perhaps the County is being at least somewhat pro-active in establishing a policy that results in income rather than continuing to operate a system that could soon be in the red.

The Register reports briefly on the terms of the agreement:

Under terms of the proposed deal, H.G. Golf Properties would pay the conservation board an estimated $228,000 a year - $84,000 guaranteed plus a percentage of gross profit for 10 years. The company also pledged to make $800,000 in unspecified golf course improvements over the length of the contract.

I think the City of Des Moines - which has struggled for years with a variety of budget problems - could benefit from this idea with regard to its own public golf courses, which last year showed an increase in attendance but only by reducing admission fees. The increased revenue from these additonal rounds of golf was under $100,000. Taxpayers still subsidize the city’s golf courses to the tune of about $1.81 per round.*

* Source: City of Des Moines 2006 Performance Report, pages 27-28.

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