City officials could keep Tahquitz Creek golf rates unchanged pending further analysis

The Palm Springs City Council will be asked to consider maintaining current resident golf rates at Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort while city staff conducts additional analysis of the fee structure, following concerns raised by dozens of golfers about rate increases of up to 73%.

The decision to recommend keeping rates unchanged comes after golfers packed the October Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to question the calculations used to justify new fees that took effect last month and to urge commissioners to give the golf community a voice in future decisions. Staff will present the rate analysis to the council at its Dec. 10 meeting.

The fee increases, adopted by the City Council in September, raised weekday green fees at the Resort Course from $58 to $95 during the October through December period, a 64% increase. Weekend and holiday rates during the peak December through May season jumped from $70 to $121, a 73% increase. The annual resident discount card required to access reduced rates increased from $39 to $61, a 56% increase.

The new fee structure, developed by consultant Willdan Financial Services, aimed to achieve full cost recovery for city services rather than subsidizing them through the general fund. City officials said the increases reflected nationwide inflation and personnel cost increases that have occurred since the last fee study was conducted six years ago.

Golfers who addressed commissioners in October said the changes would make public play less accessible. Jacque Bowman, president of the Tahquitz Creek Women’s Golf Club, told commissioners the increases are unacceptable for public golfers who cannot afford private country club memberships.

“We are not members of private country clubs,” Bowman said. “We can’t afford it.”

Bowman compared the new rates to those in surrounding cities and said Palm Springs appears to be drifting too far from affordability. She noted that residents in La Quinta pay $50 annually for a card that allows them to play Silver Rock for $49.

Questions about the fee study also emerged. One speaker suggested consultants may have incorrectly included debt service in their analysis and requested that someone review whether the consultants made an error in their calculations.

In response to the concerns raised at the October meeting, the commission voted unanimously at its Nov. 24 meeting to form a golf course ad hoc committee to provide better representation for golf course users. A staff member told commissioners the golf course has moved between different city departments over recent years and now falls under Parks and Recreation oversight.

“That community has been underrepresented,” the city staff member said. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to ensure that we are really taking care of this amenity, which we should be doing, and really does fall under the auspices of this commission and the department.”

The ad hoc committee will cover both Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort and the O’Donnell Golf Course, which also has an agreement with the city.

---