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The Tarpon Springs mayor floats the idea of part-time residents paying the same reduced greens fees as full-time residents at the city's golf course.
By KATHERINE GAZELLA
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 3, 2001
TARPON SPRINGS -- Residents who use the Tarpon Springs Golf Course pay $3 less in the summer and $5 less in the winter than non-residents, a discount some city officials want to extend to part-time residents who own homes in the city.
Mayor Frank DiDonato wants the city to find a way for these part-time residents to pay the lower rate. He and Commissioner Karen Brayboy said they have heard from many residents who think it is unfair that they have to pay full price.
"It's been brought forward many times to me," DiDonato said. "The point is that those residents are paying the same property taxes that permanent residents pay. I just saw it as an inequity."
Residents are charged $28 for a round of golf in the peak season, between Dec. 1 and April 30, and $20 the rest of the year, said Chuck Winship, manager of the course. Non-residents pay $33 during the peak season and $23 the rest of the year -- still considerably lower than most other area golf courses, he pointed out.
Until a couple of years ago, the golf course accepted many forms of identification that allowed people to qualify for the resident rate.
"We had people trying to use tax bills from cemetery plots," Winship said.
Then the city came up with a definition of who qualifies as a resident, and the golf course began requiring a Florida driver's license, voter identification card or a document of domicile from Pinellas County, he said.
Winship cautioned commissioners that changing the definition would affect profits at the golf course, possibly by more than $10,000 a year at the course, which hosts about 73,000 rounds of golf a year. He said hundreds of people have complained about the situation, some of whom would qualify as residents under the mayor's proposed definition and some who would not.
"Some are Canadian residents. Some own property, some don't. Some are business owners who live out of town and want it," he said.
Commissioners asked Winship to gather information about a possible change with a survey in December and January.
Not all the commissioners support the suggested change. Commissioner Beverley Billiris said she was concerned that if the change is made, the city would have to raise rates for everybody in order to make up for the revenue shortfall.
Commissioner Cindy Sanner said people who can afford to have a house up north and in Tarpon Springs shouldn't complain about having to pay the non-resident rate.
"They can pay the $5," she said. "It's ridiculous."
- Times staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or