January 10, 2007
RALEIGH – Thomasville could devote more money to essential city services if taxpayers stopped shoveling $23 toward every round of golf at the city-owned course. That’s a key finding in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.
“Winding Creek Golf Course lost more than $3.6 million over the last six years,” said Dr. Michael Sanera, JLF Research Director and Local Government Analyst. “The annual loss of more than $600,000 per year doesn’t include property taxes which private owners would have to pay on the same property. The city-owned 165-acre course generates no tax revenue.”
Winding Creek does more than drain city funds, Sanera said. He and co-author Michael Moore, a JLF research intern, found that Thomasville’s city-owned course uses tax dollars to generate unfair competition with private businesses.
“The taxpayer-subsidized golf course competes with 18 private golf course in the area,” Sanera said. “Several of these courses offer green fees that are competitive with the city golf course’s even without the taxpayer subsidy. In fact, when the taxpayer subsidy is added to the green fee at Winding Creek, the true cost of a round of golf there is about double the green fee charged – nearly $48 for 18 holes. The higher fee is comparable to some of the more exclusive courses in the area.”
Thomasville’s problem extends to any local government that owns a golf course, Sanera said. “Winding Creek Golf Course is not on the tax rolls, unlike the six private golf courses in Davidson County,” he added. “Imagine how you would feel if you owned a sporting goods store and you were being made to support a city-owned competitor that offered sporting goods at a lower price because of a $600,000 tax subsidy each year.”
There’s no good reason for taxpayers to continue paying the course’s bills, Sanera said. “Thomasville could sell the course to a private company, return it to the private sector for another use, or shift it to another public use such as a multi-purpose park,” he said. “Each of these options would work, even though the course sits on a closed landfill. Selling the course would give Thomasville more money to hire police officers, fill potholes, or address other essential services.”
Thomasville City Council should resist pressure to keep the money-losing course, Sanera said. “City bureaucrats who operate the golf course would have a vested interest in keeping their city jobs,” he said. “A small group of golfers will also be motivated to apply political pressure to keep their $23 subsidy for every round of golf. The council should consider instead the needs of all local taxpayers.”
Dr. Michael Sanera and Michael Moore’s Spotlight report, “Thomasville Tees Off: The city government has no business being in the golf business,” is available at the JLF web site. For more information, please contact Sanera at (919) 828-3876 or [email protected]. To arrange an interview, contact Mitch Kokai at (919) 306-8736 or [email protected].