Eliminating a “roamer/backup” superintendent position for the city’s four golf courses will save $84,000 a year and help to cut an annual deficit that has been averaging $340,000 in recent years. Each course will still have its own superintendent. The move comes after public outcry stopped plans to close Jones Golf Course, which loses the most money.
A senior position in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa golf department is being cut as the city works toward trying to achieve solvency for the department, The Gazette of Cedar Rapids reported.
The golf superintendent position will be eliminated effective October 24, The Gazette reported, as the latest step in the city’s effort to balance an annual golf deficit averaging $340,000 in recent years.
“This is in response to close that gap and make golf stronger with four courses,” said Lisa Miller, Director of Golf Operations.
The City Council previously rejected the staff’s top recommendation, which was to close Jones Golf Course, the biggest money loser among the city’s four courses, after public outcry against that plan forced the golf department to take other budgetary actions, The Gazette reported.
The vote to eliminate the superintendent position, which received no discussion during the council’s regular meeting on October 10th, will save the city $84,000 per year, according to city officials.
This still leaves a large gap to be filled by the general fund, The Gazette reported.
“It’s now a matter of controlling your costs, and this is one way to do it,” Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said after the meeting.
The structure of the city’s golf department includes Miller at the top as director, The Gazette reported. Five superintendents and three golf pros have been under her on one level, and three assistant golf pros below them.
The superintendent position being eliminated served as a roamer between the four courses and a backup when someone was out, Miller said. The remaining superintendents will absorb the duties of the eliminated position after a review, she said.
The golf department will retain the head superintendent positions at each of the city’s four publicly operated courses: Gardner, Twin Pines, Ellis and Jones, The Gazette reported.
Gail Loskill, a spokeswoman for the city’s parks and recreation department, told The Gazette that she could not identify the person being let go because of a civil service process “that may impact who is ultimately affected.”
Additional cost-saving measures and efforts to generate revenue, such as discontinuing apparel at the pro shops, not filling the vacant golf pro position at Jones, and beefing up marketing through social media, have been occurring and will continue in an attempt to balance the budget, Miller and Loskill said.
The department has borrowed more than $2 million from a general fund over time to cover losses, The Gazette reported. City officials vowed to correct golf department finances after being criticized in a 2015 annual audit.
An internal review of the department, The Gazette reported, listed alternatives to closing Jones that included:
- privatizing golf operations;
- selling Gardner to Linn County;
- selling three acres, half or all of Twin Pines for private development, while retaining some portion for a park or golf course;
- closing Ellis and converting it to parkland; and
- eliminating positions, including golf division manager, golf superintendent and the half-time customer service representative.
The City Council asked staff to explore privatization, but that has not yet been pursued as the city seeks a new director of parks and recreation. Previous director Sven Leff, who pushed for the Jones closure plan, resigned over the summer.
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