The city will not be considering a different price structure for golf at Highlands, Holmes, Mahoney and Pioneers golf courses to address the needs of the nearly $3 million city golf program.
The city golf committee, an advisory board, dropped a tiered-pricing proposal that, for instance, would have made golfing more expensive at Highlands.
The latest proposal will advance to the Parks and Recreation advisory board next week and then to the mayor and city council before the end of February.
The original proposal would have set one price for playing Holmes, Pioneers and Mahoney courses, one for Highlands and one for just Mahoney. Making Highlands a premium course and a destination source for the city was the advice of the National Golf Foundation study conducted last summer for $40,000.
There are proposals to raise rates to cover the cost of the golf program and pay for needed improvements to the courses, including new forward tees, new restrooms and repairs.
Many senior golfers have complained that the highest increases are aimed at their annual membership fees. Lynn Johnson, director of Parks and Rec, explained that the average round of golf for seniors with annual memberships was about $8.50 per round, and the increase, on average, would be to $9.50 per round — also as recommended by the NGF study.
The city has not determined any fee increases for the coming golf season, but has increased fees for memberships by 8 to 16 percent depending on the membership.
The golf committee also voted down approving a six-year plan for course improvements because fees have not been set and some members felt they did not have the authority to do so.
Johnson has recommended a 4 percent increase in daily fees, with a 4 percent increase each of the next four years to pay for improvements such as irrigation systems at Pioneers and Highlands.
The study by the NGF and two subsequent public assemblies, including a public discussion Jan. 17, were conducted to address the $800,000 debt the city golf program accumulated from 2002 to 2012. Part of that debt will be erased when the city general fund takes out $244,000 the golf program did not receive for the 2.3 acres where the Highlands city swimming pool is located.