The only thing we residents need to understand is that the 0.5% sales tax allocation grows annually. In 2021/22 it is $3.4M. That is the equivalent of 85,000 rounds at $40 a round or 34,000 rounds at $100 a round simply added to the bottom line.
Anyone can turn a $3.4M subsidy into a $200K profit
Anyone can turn a $3.4M subsidy into a $200K profit
Look at the courses. The holes are almost always empty after 9 AM or so. The nearby [former] Vistoso golf course closed due to lack of play.
In my analysis, the numbers reported to Council of actual rounds played are being fabricated
For example, the town claimed 6,212 rounds played in May with only 18 holes open. This is approximately 200 rounds a day for 30 days. But only a maximum of 20 golfers can tee off every hour (assuming that 4 tee off every 12 minutes) which is busy. Thus, in order for 200 daily rounds to be played, foursomes would be teeing off every 12 minutes for 10 hours straight every day! Do you see foursomes on every hole at 5 PM when the course would need to still be full to allow everyone to finish? Or even at 1 PM? Or even 10 AM?
I asked for an audit in a Council Meeting and we got crickets
For example, the town claimed 6,212 rounds played in May with only 18 holes open. This is approximately 200 rounds a day for 30 days. But only a maximum of 20 golfers can tee off every hour (assuming that 4 tee off every 12 minutes) which is busy. Thus, in order for 200 daily rounds to be played, foursomes would be teeing off every 12 minutes for 10 hours straight every day! Do you see foursomes on every hole at 5 PM when the course would need to still be full to allow everyone to finish? Or even at 1 PM? Or even 10 AM?
I asked for an audit in a Council Meeting and we got crickets
This [reported] "success" is an accounting gimmick and nothing more. I estimate that we have 1000-2000 actual monthly rounds per 18-hole course being played at most. I suspect that the rest is your 0.5% sales tax proceeds being passed off as phantom golf rounds. Why? Because Indigo gets a management bonus based on golf revenue, which can only come from reported rounds played. But until Oro Valley gets an audit from Indigo, we'll never know what is actually happening.
You can call Community Center golf a success if you like. I certainly won't.
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Tim Bohen grew up in Southern California and moved to Oro Valley in 2015. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from UCI and an MBA from Loyola Marymount. He graduated from the Oro Valley Community Academy in 2016 and the Citizens Academy in 2017. He has been on the Oro Valley Town Council since 2020. His interests include aviation and history.
You can call Community Center golf a success if you like. I certainly won't.
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Tim Bohen grew up in Southern California and moved to Oro Valley in 2015. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from UCI and an MBA from Loyola Marymount. He graduated from the Oro Valley Community Academy in 2016 and the Citizens Academy in 2017. He has been on the Oro Valley Town Council since 2020. His interests include aviation and history.
