Golfers playing at two existing municipal courses may be paying higher fees beginning Jan. 1.
Parks and Recreation Director Gerald Boudreaux said Thursday he will ask the City-Parish Council in October to increase fees at the Hebert Municipal and Les Vieux Chenes golf courses effective Jan. 1, and to approve higher fees for the new city golf course, called The Wetlands, when it opens next spring.
The higher fees are expected to generate additional revenue to offset subsidies from the city general fund to operate the golf courses. The general fund subsidizes the entire parks and recreation department by $2.9 million a year, said Becky Lalumia, associate chief administrative officer for finance.
Green fees at the existing courses would increase from $10 to $14, annual passes would rise from $350 to $400, senior passes would increase from $200 to $250, and family passes would rise from $350 to $400. Fees were last increased at the golf courses in 1998, Boudreaux said.
At The Wetlands, which is expected to open in April or May, green fees are proposed at $25 Mondays through Fridays and $30 for weekends and holidays. Seniors would pay $20 in green fees and $600 for an annual pass. Others would pay $875 for an annual pass and family passes would be $1,000 a year.
A three-course individual pass will be proposed for $1,200 a year.
Resident Ray Duhon objected to the increased green fees for senior citizens, asking the council to consider lower fees for those 65 years old and up, or basing fees on income.
"When the first fee proposal came up it shocked me," said resident Jim Robert. But Robert said he surveyed similar golf courses and found the proposed fees comparable.
Calling the new Wetlands golf course the "Cadillac of the golf courses," Boudreaux said the higher fees are warranted to help maintain the $6 million investment. The course was built with revenue from a $229 million city voter-approved bond issue which identified the new golf course as one of the projects to be constructed with the money, he said.
In 2004-05, the general fund is expected to subsidize the new golf course by $530,000 and Hebert Municipal golf course by $804,000, Lalumia said. Vieux Chenes is expected to return $13,600 to the general fund, she said. Even with higher fees, the golf courses will operate at a deficit.
Proposed increases to golf course fees:
The Wetlands (new course)
Green fees
Monday-Friday, $25;
Weekends and holidays, $30
Senior, junior fees: $20
Annual pass: $875
Senior pass: $600
Family pass: $1,000
Hebert Municipal/Les Vieux Chenes
Green fees: $10; proposed $14
Senior, junior fees: $5; proposed $7
Annual pass: $350; proposed $400
Senior pass: $200; proposed $250
Family pass: $450; proposed $500
Source: Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.)