Lansing — Two existing golf courses in Lansing could open April 17 as planned, although their future beyond this fiscal year is uncertain.
The Lansing City Council said Monday it will recommend to Mayor Virg Bernero in the coming weeks that the courses open on time — and remain open until at least June 30.
Bernero did not attend Monday's council meeting.
Closing the Waverly and Red Cedar golf courses was part of Bernero's plan to alleviate the city's $11 million deficit for the 2007 fiscal year. The courses should still open April 17 because the budget already is set for the current fiscal year. But for the next fiscal year — beginning on July 1 — the city will need about $119 million to keep the courses up and running.
"We only have $108 million to do it with," said Randy Hannan, the mayor's deputy chief of staff.
The city's revenue, which includes property and income tax, has been declining, he said.
"The cost of doing business is skyrocketing," Hannan said.
In order to make up the difference, the mayor proposed selling Potter Park Zoo to Ingham County, cutting more than 70 city jobs and closing the Waverly and Red Cedar golf courses. The mayor's budget proposal also includes charging other municipalities when Lansing police and fire respond outside city limits.
The golf courses and the zoo received the most public outcry at Monday's City Council meeting. Lansing resident Claude Beavers asked the council to keep the golf courses open.
"Golf courses are not like water faucets," Beavers said.
If the courses were closed, they would not be able to be opened instantaneously, Beavers said.
However, the proposals will not take effect immediately. Shutting down the golf courses would not appear on a ballot for the people to vote on until August, Councilmember Joan Bauer said.
The city charter requires the council to approve the mayor's spending plan by May 15. Until then, the council and the mayor are discussing the budget together, Hannan said.
"We'll go through the budget, line by line," he said.
Closing the two golf courses, which the city subsidizes for $250,000 to $700,000, and selling the zoo, subsidized for about $1.2 million per year, are just two of the pieces to come up with the $11 million, he said.
Hannan said they need to generate enough revenue to cover their expenses so they become self sustaining.
"To sell off a zoo is just unbelievable," said Michael Cole, a Lansing resident.
Cole said the city's financial loans do not justify losing sovereignty over the zoo.
Owosso resident Annabell MacFadden, 22, interned at the Potter Park Zoo and plans to enroll at MSU for graduate school next year. She told council members she is against the potential staff cut at the zoo.
"If they lose two zookeepers, they'll be understaffed," MacFadden said, who worked with three Anur tiger cubs.
Most of the visitors that go to the zoo don't live in Lansing, but Lansing taxpayers front the cost for running the zoo, Hannan said.
"It's a regional attraction," he said.
