The fund that supports the McCall Golf Course had its best performance in years during the city's 2003-04 fiscal year, although the course still lost about $8,000 on a cash basis, according to an audit of the city's financial records.
Overall, the golf fund made about $50,000 - a big improvement over previous years.
The total includes additional revenues such as donations and transfers from other city departments, but it also includes $135,000 in depreciation of the course that is charged to the fund as an expense.
The $8,000 cash loss does not include depreciation.
The numbers are an improvement for the golf fund, which has been the focus of an intensive effort by city staff and McCall City Council members to make the course profitable again after years of mounting losses.
Last year, the golf fund lost more than $200,000, including about $126,000 on a cash basis.
The improvement does not mean the city has extra money to spend on the golf course, however.
Large deficit remains
The golf fund's cash position at the beginning of the 2004 fiscal year was $367,000 in the red, and that number now stands at about $375,000 in the red.
Kevin Smith of city auditor Eide Bailly Inc. credited the improvement of the course's financial performance to good practices and good management.
"The golf course is improving every year and has been for the last three years," Smith said. "I think it has hit bottom and come back up."
The gain was attributed in part to a $120,000 contribution from the McCall Golf Course Foundation to pave the course's cart paths.
A $25,000 loan from the city's general fund to buy equipment also helped the bottom line.
Revenue from play also helped the bottom line during the 2003-04 fiscal year even though the number of rounds played continued to drop.
There were about 22,400 rounds played last year, the lowest number in 13 years.
By comparison, about 23,000 rounds were played in2003.Thehighestnumberof rounds played over the last decade was 34,000 in 2000.
But revenue from play increased from $434,000 in 2003 to about $510,500 in 2004 because rates to play the course were increased by the city to help the golf fund, which typically is supported by user fees and receives no property tax revenue.
Much of the increase in revenue came from sales of season passes, which jumped from $106,000 in 2003 to $134,000 in 2004. Revenue from green fees also jumped from $286,000 to $331,000.
City Director of Golf Operations Dan Pillard, who manages the golf fund, said Tuesday that staffers took great care to save money last year.
The course moved closer to profitability in part because Pillard bought used mowers instead of new mowers to replace dilapidated equipment and because he used fewer employees than budgeted. Pillard used only about 91 percent of his personnel budget.
Golf course crews also did much of the work to improve irrigation on five holes of the course, Pillard said. Using in-house workers to do the job saved the city money on the $15,000 project, he said.
Improvements made
In fact, several projects were completed on the golf course to improve the look and play of the facility, Pillard said.
Here is a list of projects:
• Irrigation improvements were made on five holes.
• The clubhouse was painted and received new landscaping.
• Dozens of diseased and dangerous trees were removed.
• Drainage improvements were completed to keep water off the course.
• 27,000 linear feet of cart paths were paved, thanks to funding from the foundation.
Two sprinkler heads were changed to expand the area that is watered.
• Two tee boxes were rebuilt.
• The clubhouse dumpster was relocated from the east side of the clubhouse to the east side of the parking lot so it is not the first thing people see when they arrive.
• Greens were patched and are expected to be the focus of major improvements this year.
• A project that moved wetlands around to improve the way the course plays was finished.
"We got a lot of good things done this year. There were a lot of advancements 'made and we still got a lot better on the budget," Pillard said.
