Some folks have expressed admiration toward the Friends of ArrowCreek (FOA) for making a major contribution to preserving our ArrowCreek property values – by purchasing the golf course (GC). One GC member suggested that golfers have been subsidizing the value of our ArrowCreek homes for years and asked if it isn’t time for the rest of ArrowCreek residents to do their fair share.

…Which got me thinking: how many of the 34 FOA contributors are golfers or own property abutting the GC? I’m not buying into their motive being altruistic. The recent UNR survey suggests that less than 25 % of residents golf. So, they expect the vast majority of property owners to subsidize an expensive hobby? With the argument being that doing so maintains the lush green, park like nature of ArrowCreek and thus preserves our property values?

I’m not buying that one. A set of concerned residents recently released a UNR study that seriously questions the urban legend relationship between golf courses and property values. I would suggest that the health of our local and national economies play more of a role in our property values than a GC.

But accept, for a moment, this claim that a GC does indeed preserve, perhaps increases, our property values. No proponent of the HOA buying the GC has yet to answer the burning question: at what price? When do annually increasing HOA dues to subsidize the deficits of operating a GC start to become so expensive that property values start declining? How many special assessments for a new roof, irrigation replacement, greens replacement, etc will residents tolerate as potential buyers shy away from the mess in ArrowCreek?

These buzz words about being “visionary” and “controlling our own destiny” resonate well in corporate America. We are a not for-profit HOA. The ever increasing cost of subsidizing a money pit won’t come from other people’s money. It will come from our wallets.

While the Board spends our money on surveys and attorneys trying to figure out how to get around the restrictions imposed on the HOA owning and operating (an attempt at ) a for-profit business, keep in mind the following: The FOA owns the GC. If successful, perhaps FOA will sell to an investor. If unsuccessful, perhaps FOA will sell to an investor. This is America – allow capitalism to work.

By Wayne Krachun