By Greg Nikkel
The Rural Municipality of Weyburn has begun the process under the Tax Enforcement Act to acquire the title for the Weyburn Golf Club for non-payment of back taxes, bringing to a head an issue that has been ongoing since the year 2000.
The main issue for the Golf Club has been a high tax bill, particularly since reassessment in the early 2000s multiplied their taxes by five times, and all efforts to this point has been to either negotiate a lower tax level or to have the ownership taken over as a recreational facility by the City or RM of Weyburn.
“We’ve spent years trying to come to a solution that is reasonable, given the fact they are still a ratepayer in the municipality,” said Reeve Carmen Sterling. “We’ve undertaken to find numerous alternatives to this. There are significant taxes outstanding.”
She said the RM has submitted their documentation to the Saskatchewan Municipal Board, and from there they will direct the process, which may include appointing a mediator to negotiate a resolution to the outstanding tax bill.
“We’ve just exhausted all the avenues that could have helped the situation,” said Reeve Sterling, adding they had been awaiting a response from the Golf Course on a proposal they had submitted to them, but no response has come back to the RM.
Golf Club president Brian Bakken noted they had been negotiating with the RM and had at one point were working on an agreement where the Golf Club would pay the taxes owed with the interest and penalties waived. The dilemma for the Golf Club is that they are not owned by a regional park or municipality, resulting in the situation where Weyburn’s golf course is virtually the only one in the southeast that pays taxes, putting them at a severe disadvantage as they compete with other area golf courses which do not pay any taxes.
“It has always been our goal to be tax exempt like the other golf facilities in the region and other recreational facilities in the City of Weyburn. … The RM has within its provincial legislation to grant tax exempt status for the golf club but has chosen not to take this action,” said the golf club executive in a statement provided to the Weyburn Review.
Talks for the Golf Club to be taken over by the City of Weyburn were not completed when the civic election came up, and were put on hold, with the result now the Golf Club needs to sit down with the new council to see what their thoughts are.
“We’ve requested the City look at taking ownership of the Golf Club. We’ve not met yet with the new council,” said Bakken, adding the city now won’t be able to make this move until their tax issue is settled with the RM of Weyburn.
The RM had expressed interest in taking ownership of the Golf Club for a time, starting in late 2012. In information provided by the Golf Club executive, “discussions continued between all three parties through the Economic Development Committee. Early in 2015 the RM stated that they wanted this process and agreement completed by August 2015 where the RM would become the owners of the property and Golf Course would be operated by the board of directors. Obviously this agreement did not get finalized, and in late 2016 the RM of Weyburn announced that they were formally withdrawing from negotiations regarding ownership of the property, but that they would no longer challenge ownership by the City.”
As the RM has begun proceedings under the Tax Enforcement Act, a mediator will be involved on behalf of the Province of Saskatchewan, who will contact the Golf Club to find a settlement of the outstanding taxes, said Bakken, who pointed out ongoing negotiations for ownership was the main reason why this last tax bill was not paid.
“Because we were in a position that we felt an agreement was imminent and that the RM had stated we could negotiate the tax arrears, the board had continued to withhold payment until an agreement was reached. The RM was well within its legal rights to begin the process as stated in the Tax Enforcement Act and we are looking forward to the next step that involves discussion with the Provincial Mediation Board and come to a negotiated deal on the repayment of tax arrears, since the RM was unable or unwilling to discuss this issue in good faith,” explained Bakken in the Golf Club statement.
Bakken added in an interview that they are awaiting notification from the province of when they can meet with a mediator.
“Regardless of what happens, the Golf Club will have to pay some of these back taxes,” he said, noting once the taxes are all worked out, they have some important capital projects they would like to work on, such as the irrigation upgrades that are badly needed for the ongoing operations of the golf course. Other capital needs include tree replacement, as some trees are getting very old, more ladies tee boxes need to be built and a number of greens are also in need of upgrades.
If the Golf Club is able to reach an agreement with the City about ownership, then the agreement would still need to be ratified by the club membership before it could take effect.
Bakken pointed out that there are several major benefits to having a recreation facility like the Golf Club continue operations, and many organizations and the community as a whole would be hurt if the Golf Club were to be shut down.
“Considering that the Weyburn Golf Club is used by numerous organizations for fundraising tens of thousands of dollars, including but not limited to, Weyburn Hospital Foundation, Southeast Regional College and Weyburn Red Wings Alumni, it would be catastrophic to these groups, and the City and surrounding area ,if the Golf Course were to cease operations when it is a very preventable situation that only requires leadership at the municipal level to prevent,” said the statement from the golf club executive.
“The Weyburn Golf Club is simply asking that it be recognized like every other recreational facility and non-profit organization in the area, so that we may funnel every dollar made back into improving our facilities and increasing its value to the community, thus making Weyburn the preferred location in southeast Saskatchewan for new businesses to locate and families to live. It would be embarrassing to say that the original home course of world renowned PGA player Graham DeLaet was not able to remain viable.”
