On November 29, the city council voted to allow the city manager or a designee to set various golf fees, including golf cart rental and green fees, allowing staff to fluctuate pricing based on factors such as weather, course conditions and tee-time popularity. Golf fees were previously set by the city council via an ordinance.
The Longmont (Colo.) City Council passed a change to golf fees at the Sunset, Twin Peaks and Ute Creek golf courses on November 29, the Longmont Times-Call reported.
The change to Longmont code would allow City Manager Harold Dominguez or a designee to set various golf fees, including fees for golf cart rental and green fees. Currently, the golf fees are set by the City Council via an ordinance, and are changed periodically through that process. The change to the fee structure would allow staff to fluctuate pricing based on factors such as weather, course conditions and tee-time popularity, the Times-Call reported.
“When you look at what’s happening across the industry, you start to see this come into play in the golf industry because you see folks who want to go golfing—just like they would for a hotel or a flight—check around on the web for the best deal,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez added that the city did some testing with dynamic pricing before the ordinance came before council and saw positive results. Staff were even able to vary the pricing based on whether or not the Denver Broncos were playing, the Times-Call reported.
“It allows us to zone in and really target a much broader market,” Dominguez said.
Staff hope that changing the fees to dynamic pricing would allow the city’s golf courses to raise more funds to better cover future costs. The proposed ordinance change would also specify that the “fees shall be sufficient to cover the cost of operation and maintenance of the golf courses,” according to draft language staff sent to council in a memo.
The golf fund is an enterprise fund within the city budget, but doesn’t make enough money for major capital improvements such as the estimated $6 million worth of projects. That $6 million includes a proposed $2.4 million irrigation system replacement sorely needed at Twin Peaks Golf Course and a $1.12 million maintenance facility slated for Ute Creek Golf Course, the Times-Call reported.
Staff proposed funding the roughly $6 million expense with a prospective bond issue that council and voters must still approve. If passed, the $26.5 million bond would go toward maintaining the golf courses and other crumbling city infrastructure. The bond would be paid off through tax dollars but wouldn’t require a tax increase, the Times-Call reported.
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