Lemoore Council approves budget, golf course lease
Jun. 16—The Lemoore City Council passed the city budget for fiscal year 2021 unanimously during Tuesday's meeting, and approved a contract for a new golf course management company.
Assistant City Manager and Administrative Services Director Michelle Speer presented a few changes to the budget from its presentation earlier this month due to delays in projects. While the shifting of the expenses will cause the general fund to run a small deficit, the fund will end the year healthier than projected, she said.
Councilmembers spent a significant period trying to understand the limited budgets in maintenance zones, mostly for landscaping, which Speer said was caused by a recent change in how their funding is handled and balanced.
The funds, which are used for certain types of general maintenance and repair, were previously lumped into one fund and relied on the City's general fund to cover costs over the amount the zone earned in taxes and fees, Speer said.
Currently the zones can only spend as much money as they make, leaving some with very small budgets.
"In the past the general fund covered the deficit because, legally, we can't use assets from one zone to cover services in another," Speer said. "We tried to fix it to some degree by raising rates in zones that don't make enough revenue, but it has to be approved by the voters and people didn't want to increase the fees."
Multiple council members commended Speer for her work in the past few years to bring the City's balance out of the red. She said the City is on track to run without a deficit by the 2023 fiscal year.
Speer also said the City may see more revenue for the year than indicated in the budget when they are able to determine what federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act can be used for, but said that may take until the fall.
The council also approved a lease of the Lemoore Municipal Golf Course by Sierra Golf Management. City Manager Nathan Olson said under the current system, in which the City is more involved in management, the course makes or loses a small amount of money every year, but rarely runs a profit.
Over the past decade or two, Olson said the course has become more than $700,000 in debt to the general fund, which has covered deficits, and hasn't been able to make repairs or upgrade to become a more attractive course for players.
In the lease agreement SGM will pay an annually increasing rent over a 15 year contract, starting at $20,000 during the second year of rental and ending at $174,000, said Olson.
The company will also reduce the greens and bunkers of the course, as well as make other improvements, to reopen to the public by Labor Day.
Speer and Olson said the agreement would allow a guaranteed revenue from the course, which has been inconsistent in the past, as well as allow significant improvements to the property which the City has been unable to make.
A representative from the company said they will primarily hire Lemoore residents and allow current golf course employees to apply to work with their company.
The lease agreement passed unanimously.
