The Weyburn Golf Club is in the unenviable position of having a municipality launch legal proceedings under the provincial Tax Enforcement Act by the Rural Municipality of Weyburn for the non-payment of property taxes.
Golf Club president Brian Bakken admits the golf club will need to pay some of these taxes, but they had a very good reason to hold off from paying them, namely there had been negotiations ongoing about a possible resolution in the form of the City of Weyburn taking ownership of the recreation facility. At one point, the RM was also in talks for taking ownership, but there was no resolution to those discussions.
There needs to be recognition by government (both municipal and provincial) that the Weyburn Golf Club is in a unique situation, namely they are one of the few (if only) golf courses that is being taxed. Other courses that Weyburn competes with, such as Mainprize and Oungre, are part of a regional park and are therefore not subject to the taxes that the Weyburn course is.
In addition to that, the tax bill for the golf club jumped exponentially after reassessment took place a number of years ago, and the new tax level is simply not affordable for a non-profit recreational facility that is trying to keep green fees and memberships at a competitive level compared to other golf courses in the region.
The RM does not have control over how assessment is done, as this is the purview of the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA), but there is a way to resolve the issue, namely that a regional park (like Nickle Lake) or the City or RM of Weyburn could take ownership of the course, with the executive left in place for the club’s ongoing operations. As the Golf Club executive stated recently, this whole situation can be resolved by some leadership from the municipal government level — but someone has to step forward and make the process happen.
Many groups and organizations have benefitted by holding fundraising golf tournaments, such as the Weyburn Hospital Foundation, the Weyburn Red Wings Alumni and the Weyburn Oil Men and Oil Women groups, just to name a few. If the golf course had to shut down because of this ongoing tax issue, these non-profit groups would all be hurt by it, not to mention the status and reputation of Weyburn as a prime place to live and work in southeast Saskatchewan. Part of the quality of life for a community are the recreation facilities that are available. To coin a sports phrase, the ball is now in the municipal court, as it were. — Greg Nikkel
