Minnesota State Wire

With four public golf courses losing money in the past five years, Rochester city council members are looking at how they can improve those courses and increase revenue.

According to The Center Square, the taxpayer cost of annual golf rounds has jumped to $291,867, with just 79,539 rounds played, with a cost of $3.67 per round. This is a striking contrast to 2015, when golf rounds hit 91,649 rounds for the year and a subsidized cost of $1.61 per round.   

Although the city reduced staff in order to cut costs, increased employee benefits pretty much wiped out those gains, Parks and Recreation Director Paul Widman told the Rochester City Council in a recent meeting.

"If you were going to put the money into renovating, picking one of the courses that would maybe make the most sense, do it right and try to make that enough of a revenue stream in itself," said city council president Randy Staver.

There are options to raise revenue, like offering other recreation opportunities or destination dining.

Councilman Shaun Palmer said the council is looking at options to reduce the subsidy, but don’t plan to sell the golf courses. 

“Everybody on the city council is in agreement that golf doesn’t have to make a profit,” Palmer said. “Parks add something to the community.”