WILKES-BARRE — The lease for the Hollenback Golf Course put the new operator at a two-stroke advantage over the city when it came to covering an $11,190 golf cart expense.
The city will make the April and June payments, each at $5,595, and the General Municipal Authority will be responsible for the third in August for the lease of 18 EZ-Go golf carts.
The payment schedule only applies to 2021, according to the three-year lease signed Wednesday by the city and the Authority that operates the Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course in Bear Creek Township.
“The reason we agreed, they wanted time to get in there and open the golf course and generate money,” City Attorney Tim Henry Friday said.
Last month city council approved the lease presented by Mayor George Brown that states the Authority will pay the city rent equal to 5% of the net proceeds during each year of the lease. The city has been losing money on the public, nine-hole course and looked to lease Hollenback as a cost-cutting measure.
Last year was no exception. Even with the higher revenues and lower expenses, the city still lost $97,402 on the course.
The December draft financial report showed the course brought in $161,868 in revenues, more than the $111,350 budgeted. It also did better with expenses, ending the year with $259,270 compared to the $308,825 budgeted.
Whether the city receives any rent remains to be seen and the lease leaves it up to the Authority on how it will operate the course, from hours, fees and costs and the hiring of employees. None of the rent can come from the Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course, however.
Brown made that clear to city council before its vote at the Feb. 25 meeting.
“It’s a three-year lease, we’re looking at,” Brown said. “And once it’s signed then the Municipal Authority would have the authority to look at rates and to do what they feel is necessary.”
The city will no longer assign full-time Department of Public Works employees to Hollenback. Neither will it hire part-time summer help. The DPW employees will be reassigned to the public works department, Brown said.
Pay and benefits for Hollenback employees totaled $183,450, according to the December draft financial report. The combined costs accounted for 70% of the Hollenback’s expenses.