EDITOR's NOTE:
Government involvemnt in golf continues to be a hot topic in our industry. Below is recent op-ed piece from the Richmond (Ky) Register that references an issue from Jackson, Mich. (reported in this article).
For more information on this topic, be sure to check out GCI's May 2010 cover story: "In Muni's We Trust"
RICHMOND, Ky. — There is a controversy taking place in Jackson, Mich. between private golf courses and the government-owned Sharp Park and Cascades Golf Courses. These two courses were Jackson County’s first 18-hole public courses and were built in 1923 and 1932. Generations of Jackson residents have learned the game that has remained a lifelong recreation.
The private courses are struggling, and are raising the question of whether the government should be in the golf business. They contend that municipal courses provide unfair competition that adversely affects the industry.
Michael LaFaive, Director of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said, “When governments subsidize or run businesses that provide below cost governmental competition to American businesses, they are taxing us to undermine our own private businesses.”
Private course owner Bill Schott said, “Property taxes and capital investment – these two things represent the difference between survival and failure.”
