Faced with stagnant gambling revenue, Bettendorf officials are once again eyeing cuts to the so-called "enterprise funds" which include the city owned fitness center, golf course, swimming pool and Family Museum.
At a recent city council session looking at final numbers for the fiscal year ended June 30, Mayor Mike Freemire promised "interesting" discussions when the new budget takes shape in the next two months. His remarks came after reports by city Finance Director Carol Barnes on the Life Fitness Center and Palmer Hills Golf Course.
The fitness center generated revenue to cover 68 percent of its annual budget, while the golf course/restaurant earned 86 percent of its budget.
Both the fitness center and golf course earned a much higher percentage of their budget than the city owned Family Museum, which had a net operating loss of more than $1.2 million in the fiscal 2010, and earned revenue to cover only 38 percent of its annual budget.
The fitness center, city pool and golf course have been the focus of council budget-cutting discussions in recent years, but the Family Museum largely has escaped any budget trimming talk. While revenues at the museum have gone up in the past two years, higher operating expenses have left the facility with the same budget gap, Barnes told aldermen.
The city finance staff is projecting little growth for gambling revenues as riverboat casino admissions and revenues have fallen. The city has used those dollars to help offset deficits in the enterprise funds in past years. Unlike the fitness center and golf course enterprise funds, the Family Museum's subsidy has come out of the city's general fund.
Operating deficits at the city owned events center are paid by the Isle of Capri, which operates the facility. If the events center were to generate aggregate profits in excess of $7 million, the city would receive a 50 percent split of future profits at the facility.
