DeBell income grows
The city-owned DeBell Golf Club saw a 13.4%, or $22,221, spike in operating revenue in July compared to the same period last year, officials reported this week.
The uptick, which comes a year after the city authorized a $2-million bailout, half of which has been used, was largely attributed to an increase in revenue from golf-cart rentals, concessions and green fees for the club’s par-3 nine-hole disc/golf course and its 18-hole golf courses, according to a financial report.
Operating revenues reached $188,599, while expenditures topped off at $149,367, leaving the club with a net income of $39,232 before depreciation.
Mayor Dave Golonski cautioned that while operating revenues were up in June and July, the club has still not started to pay off its debt. The club is slated to start paying back the loan to the city’s General Fund in January 2014.
“We’ve made great progress but we’re not out of the woods yet,” Golonski said. “I just want to be careful we don’t think everything’s rosy, because we’ve got work to do.”
At the end of fiscal year 2013-14, officials project the fund’s cash balance to be negative $336,000.
To make DeBell run more efficiently, the Golf Fund Oversight Committee recommended a new management structure for the club. It proposed that the city hire one management company to operate all aspects of the club. Currently, the city oversees five separate contracts —concessions, golf operations, maintenance, golf carts and building maintenance.
The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Board and the City Council will discuss changing the club’s management structure next month, Councilman Jess Talamantes said.