Dear Members,
All members were emailed (19 July 2024) a copy of the recently approved Fees and Charges that have been adopted by the Board for the membership year 1 October 2024 to end September 2025.
The approved fees and charges are necessary to sustainably fund the operations of the Club, improve our net cash position over a determined period and enable continued reinvestment into upkeep and enhancement of member amenities.
The key changes are:
- Introduction of a Corporate Membership
- Increase in Entrance Fee of (20.0%) to ensure adequate contribution to pre-existing capital works
- Increase in baseline subscription for 7 Day playing members of 6% and subsequent related increases across other categories
- Increase in the 5 Day subscription from 80% of 7 Day to 85%, reflecting 5.5 days of playing rights for 5 Day members v. 6.5 days of playing rights for 7 Day members
- A continued Loan Reduction Levy increased to $750 (refer more detail on this below).
The level of adopted fees reflect an increase in cost of membership that enables continued delivery of improvements to the Club and importantly reinvestment into maintaining amenities.
The Board will shortly review the 2024/25 capital expenditure plans considerate of the survey feedback and report on agreed projects. This will likely see resource focus on:
- Continuance of bunker renovations
- General course presentation and in house upkeep of clubhouse
- A continued availability of regular lunch services and a calendar of 15-20 member social events outside of golf to enjoy the camaraderie of membership
The Board is also focused on external revenue generation (in particular, through continued marketing for function bookings) and cost savings where possible across the various areas of operations. This has already resulted in savings across a number of areas including:
- tailoring of the insurance policies held by the Club;
- revisiting the GST treatment of prize accounts;
- changes to staffing requirements;
- reduction in clubhouse services on a Monday;
- changes to staffing policies and opening hours on course closure days;
- completion of the additional bore to reduce our reliance on town water (annual saving $70-100k);
- improved tendering for the supply of goods.
Loan Reduction Levy
As noted in previous correspondence, the net debt of the club at 31 August 2024 (before 2025 subscriptions begin to be received) is forecast to be approximately $5m. This comprises funds borrowed to construct the Course Maintenance Facility ($3.6m) and legacy debt ($1.4m) from historical operations.
Based on a review of accounts available on ASIC, very few other Sydney based golf clubs have debt and it is the Board?s plan to clear our debt in a staged and practical manner, within a reasonable timeframe.
Accordingly, the Board have set a Loan Reduction Levy of $750. A levy at this level will allow the debt to be repaid within 8 years (assuming interest rates do not increase further). It will also result in a significant interest saving in comparison to other levy amounts (e.g. a $500 levy would need to be applied for 14 years and would result in an additional estimated $1.1m of finance costs).
The Board are committed to clear communication within its annual reporting of net debt levels so that members have continued visibility that this levy is being used to reduce the debt burden and can see the progress being made in this regard.
Regards
Jack Lutze
PRESIDENT
NOTE TRANSFER REQUESTS:
Further communication will be sent to Members when the category transfer requests period (August) opens.
NOTE SUBSCRIPTION INVOICES:
This notice is not your renewal Invoice, a renewal Invoice will be issued September 1 to all members.
FEES & CHARGES SCHEDULE 2024 2025:
Subscription Notice 2425 FINAL to WEBSITE
FAQ FEES AND LEVY 2024 2025
EMAIL COPY:
https://northstar.manlygolf.com.au:8443/northstar/campaign/email.jsp?e=RllieFdCcVpBdEE9
