Potential green fee increase turns into redhot budget item

In an attempt to work through a preliminary budget during its workshop Monday, the Atchafalaya Golf Course Commission got side tracked by an argument over the condition of the grounds and a proposed increase in annual pass holder fees.
Commissioner Jerry Adams said he received an email from a group who played the course over the weekend complaining about the greens being slow and cut improperly. The rest of the members said they received the same email.
The commission is considering whether to increase annual pass holder fees by $250 from $2,300 to $2,550. The change is in hopes of generating $22,000 more annually to pay for a new lease of golf carts with GPS when the current lease expires in March.
The increased cost of the lease, along with the decreased cost of maintaining the current aging fleet, would result in a net increase in cost of about $22,000 over seven months, Sparks said.
Jerry Adams compared the Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi, a public course, with its $2,325 annual membership to Atchafalaya at Idlewild, but Chairman Rudy Sparks told him the Black Bear course is not in the same market.
“If we don’t do something to increase our fees I just don’t see how we can expect to offer people a brand new fleet of carts and not expect people to have to pay a little bit more, especially those that are using them the most,” Sparks said.
The number of carts also would be reduced by 10. Sparks noted annual pass holders pay $500 less for those memberships than they did nine years ago when the course opened. The only year the course made money was its first, Sparks said in a phone call today.
“When we first started we had a brand new championship 18-hole golf course. People were excited about it. Three thousand dollars was a deal when this place first opened up,” Jerry Adams said.
Discussions got heated between Jerry Adams and Ben Adams, when Ben Adams took umbrage with his counterpart’s complaints.
“We have a jewel here in Patterson and we’ve just got to stay positive. Our numbers are our numbers. Obviously the paper isn’t here because they’re glaring beautiful, but we’ve got to do something to try to rectify the situation. If a couple guys are going to leave here and go to St. Mary for $250 bucks then that’s what they’re going to have to do,” Ben Adams said.
He then told Jerry Adams that board members spend a lot of time trying to make the golf course work, but Jerry Adams “shows up once a month” complaining.
After about 20 minutes of discussion, the board decided not to approve the preliminary budget during the regular meeting, which immediately followed the workshop.
Sparks told board members that if they could think of another way to generate revenue, he would like to hear it.
Golf green fees are not generating the necessary income, he said, resulting in a line item that is inflated annually in the budget because the commission must submit a balanced budget to the parish.
While the 2014-15 fiscal year budget, which begins Oct. 1, shows a total net income of $1,476, the previous two budgets have reflected similar gains but resulted in a total loss of $239,100 in 2012-13 and a projected loss of $126,747 in 2013-14.
“The reality is, that’s our shortfall. It’s golf revenue. It’s just the nature of the beast. I don’t think it’s unique to us. This is something that the entire industry is struggling with … everybody’s losing money. Some are just losing more than others,” Sparks said.
The budget must be presented to the St. Mary Parish Council 30 days before the fiscal year begins.