Woodlands County council voted 5-2 in favour of a marketing grant for the Whitecourt Golf and Country Club, Whitecourt, Alberta at its regular meeting on Sept. 5.
The County will give $9,000 to the golf course this year in return for having its logo on all the golf course’s advertising in 2018, including posters and electronic invitations. This decision comes after Woodlands County Mayor Jim Rennie and Coun. Ron Govenlock had a meeting with the golf course.
“When we looked at their financials, they had enough money to operate, but they can’t get ahead on the upgrades they need to do,” Rennie said.
Another reason for this decision was the thousands of tourists that the golf course brings in every year, Rennie said, adding that the numbers “astounded” him.
“I didn’t realize how much tourism came as a result of it all,” he said.
The golf course had asked for a tax exemption, but Rennie said the County gave a grant instead since a tax exemption wasn’t legal in this case.
County administration initially recommended that the County should enter into a five-to-10 year grant agreement if the golf course was to receive a long-term and predictable benefit, but Rennie said he wanted to wait until confirming when and if the Town of Whitecourt would annex the property.
If annexed, County administration said no taxes could be derived from the golf course. Rennie said the County and Town have been working on this annexation for a number of years.
