Quail Ridge Golf Course is not a financial albatross for Baker City.

But would it be better for the city, and its residents, to try to sell the 18-hole course in the foothills south of Indiana Avenue?

The question is not new.

But the city council’s approval of a $1.35 million replacement of the nearly 90-year-old irrigation system under the “old” nine holes, a project done last fall, has renewed interest in the matter.

In 2023, former city council member Johnny Waggoner Sr. suggested giving city voters a chance to authorize the city to sell the course, or at least the nine holes built in 1999.

No such measure has been put on the ballot.

“I don’t mind the golf course, I just want it to pay for itself,” Waggoner said in 2023. “It should be self-supporting as it is. Well, it’s not. I’ve got a better idea — let’s just not own it, let’s sell it.”

The city spends more money on the course than the $5,500 annual lease payment it gets from Anthony Lakes Outdoor Recreation Association, the nonprofit that has managed the course since 2020.

But not much more.

The city transferred $25,000 from its general fund to the golf course fund in fiscal 2023-24. The general fund transfers were $15,000 in 2022-23 and $17,000 the previous year.

For context, the general fund totals about $7 million. It includes the police department (nearly $3 million) and the fire department (about $1.8 million).

The city spends more on another recreation facility — Sam-O Swim Center — that is managed by another entity, the Baker Family YMCA. The city uses about $100,000 per year in local property taxes to run the swimming pool.

Under the city’s lease with Anthony Lakes, the nonprofit keeps revenue from the course. That amounted to $382,000 for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, according to Anthony Lakes’ federal tax return.

The city could potentially negotiate a higher lease payment when the current five-year deal ends in 2026. Anthony Lakes has agreed to contribute more to the course — $14,500 in cost-share work for the current fiscal year.

But no leasee, whether nonprofit or for-profit, would agree to run Quail Ridge if the lease payment was excessive. One alternative is to have the city oversee the course, but that would hardly satisfy critics since the option would require the city to hire employees to do the work Anthony Lakes does now. It’s quite possible that under that scenario the city’s subsidy of the course would exceed the current modest amount.

Another option is the one Waggoner suggested — selling the course.

City Manager Barry Murphy said he doesn’t believe that’s a feasible plan.

“The reality is there just aren’t a lot of companies that would buy a golf course in a rural area,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean the city couldn’t find a buyer willing to continue operating Quail Ridge as a golf course rather than, for instance, turning the property into a housing development or some other use.

Under private ownership, regardless of purpose, the property would generate property tax revenue, which isn’t the case with publicly owned land.

A golf course, whether publicly or privately owned, benefits the local economy by attracting visitors, some of whom stay in local motels, eat in restaurants and patronize other businesses.

Anthony Lakes started tracking out-of-town visitors last year. Nic Carman, who oversees the course, said 724 rounds of golf were played by people who stayed at least one night in Baker County.

The course has other benefits besides the monetary ones.

Quail Ridge is the home course for Baker High School’s golf teams, and the site for annual high school tournaments. The boys and girls district tournaments will take place at Quail Ridge later this month. The BHS cross-country teams have a meet on the course each fall, and Quail Ridge has also hosted the district cross-country meet several times.

Those uses could possibly continue even if Quail Ridge became private. But there would be no guarantee. And a private owner might charge a fee for such events.

Water is an issue, as well — golf courses, particularly in an arid climate, require considerable amounts of water.

Joyce Bornstedt, the city’s public works director, said the city has never had to curtail water use by residents and businesses due to irrigation at Quail Ridge. The city does reduce water use at the course, as well as at Mount Hope Cemetery and city parks, if needed to ensure an adequate supply for the residents.

The city doesn’t charge Anthony Lakes for water at Quail Ridge. Murphy said the city treats the golf course as it does other city-owned properties that also require irrigation, such as the cemetery and parks.

If the city did bill Anthony Lakes for the water, the nonprofit might not be willing to manage the course.

The city almost certainly would collect water revenue were the course privately owned. But that money, by city ordinance, goes to the water fund, which is separate from the general fund. The general fund shortfall that prompted the city council in June 2024 to impose a monthly public safety fee of $10 for residential customers and $20 for businesses, to avoid layoffs in the police and fire departments, was neither caused by, nor can be solved by, an increase in water billing.

The city’s water department is in solid financial shape, with a fund balance of $3.2 million for the current fiscal year. The city has been gradually replacing over more than a decade the aging pipeline that brings water from the Elkhorn Mountains to town. The city is not increasing water or sewer rates for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Ultimately, whether Quail Ridge Golf Course is owned by the city or by a private entity has much more to do with the public’s perceptions, and feelings about golf in general, than it does with the city’s budget, how much residents pay to the city in taxes and fees, or the city’s ability to meet the demand for water.

The course, under city ownership, has negligible effects on all three.