EVERETT — The cost to play at the city’s two golf courses may go up June 1, especially for city residents, who would no longer enjoy discounts on daily rates.
The City Council is set to vote on the parks department’s proposed rate increase this morning.
About 85 percent of the golfers at the Legion Memorial and Walter E. Hall golf courses are nonresidents, and some of them have complained about the two-tier rate structure that has been in place since 1995, said Ed Adrian, superintendent of golf operations.
"People have said that that wasn’t a friendly message that the city of Everett was sending to them," he said. "We want all of our customers to feel welcome."
In effect, nonresidents have helped to subsidize Everett residents, Adrian said. Some nonresident golfers were so upset by the two-tier system that they started golfing elsewhere, even if the price was higher, he said.
Everett is the only municipal golf course in the area that offers resident discounts, he said.
The golf courses’ management company, Billy Casper Golf Management, is planning to offer various coupons, discount cards and other offers to help make up for the rate increase.
Golfers will be able to receive cards offering discounts that increase as the number of rounds played increases.
For example, golfers might be able to buy 25 rounds of golf at a 10 percent discount. Other offers might include free golfing for kids who play with parents.
In addition, a new military discount will be added. Discounts for seniors and students who have completed the Everett Junior Golf Program will remain in place.
The daily rates would increase for residents at both golf courses and for nonresidents at Walter E. Hall.
For example, under the proposal, the standard cost to play 18 holes of golf at Walter E. Hall, Monday through Thursday from April to September would be $26. The price is currently $24 for nonresidents and $18 for residents. The cost at Legion Memorial would be $34, which is the price nonresidents currently pay. Residents now pay $23.
Rates vary by time of day and time of year.
Although the parks department is proposing to eliminate the resident discount for daily rates, it plans to continue reserving its annual pass for residents only. Many holders of the annual pass are seniors, and the city wants to continue offering the passes while there is enough money in the golf budget to do so, Adrian said.
"We want to keep our customers happy," he said.
If the city were to offer an annual pass for nonresidents, it would have to charge a much higher rate, Adrian said. The city is hoping that nonresidents take advantage of the other various discounts, he said.
At Walter E. Hall, the cost for an annual pass would rise from $845 to $900; seniors would pay $550, up from $450. The cost at Legion would stay the same: at, respectively, $1,300 and $750.
The fee increases will help balance the golf courses’ budget, parks Director Susan Francisco said.
The department is spending $700,000 a year to pay off the bonds that funded a $6 million renovation of Legion Memorial in 1997, and a combination of fee increases and budget cuts are needed to avoid deficit spending, Francisco said.
Everett golf courses are self-sustaining. No tax money is used to pay for golf operations and maintenance.
The fee increases are projected to close nearly half of the $172,000 gap between revenues and expenses in the 2004 golf budget, said Shaun Bridge, financial analyst for the parks department.
Last year, golfers played 59,080 rounds at the Walter E. Hall course and 53,650 rounds at Legion Memorial.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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