The Indian Wells Golf Resort does not need to rehabilitate the Players Course since it is ranked highly nationwide.
	The Indian Wells Golf Resort must undergo needed rehabilitation and enhancements to remain competitive nationwide and boost finances.

The Indian Wells Golf Resort must undergo needed rehabilitation and enhancements to remain competitive nationwide and boost finances.

Golf courses need to be remodeled every 15 to 20 years to maintain high standards. This can be seen in the recent renovations of courses such as Corica Park (North) in Alameda in 2023, Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert in 2016 and 2024, and the Diamond Bar Golf Course earlier this spring. Montebello Golf Course is currently closed for a 72-acre renovation. The Indian Wells Golf Resort’s Players Course opened in 2007 and must be updated in the next few years, regardless.

In addition, the Players Course is due for safety renovations. The Pavilion requires fire access, and it is more fiscally responsible to complete all renovations at one time.

The revenue growth from these improvements would help fund other requested projects, like expanded parking.  To view Staff Report click here.

The Indian Wells Golf Resort continues to improve financially.

In past few years, the Golf Resort has made great strides to run more efficiently and generate new revenues to offset its costs of operations and fund capital replacement at the facility. In addition, the City Council established a policy to push the Indian Wells Golf Resort to be a more profitable operation. This decision came on the heels of consistent yearly red ink that amounted to millions of dollars in the aggregate. The money to cover these losses came from the City’s General Fund, the same source of funds used to pay for vital municipal services such as police protection, fire and paramedic services and maintenance of local streets. 

The City Council made three important changes in the contractual relationship between Troon Golf (the contractor managing the Golf Resort) and the City: 

• The management contract was changed from a fee-for-service arrangement to an incentive-based arrangement in which Troon shares in any profit produced by the Golf Resort so long as certain revenue and expense benchmarks are achieved. 

• Troon is required to invest $1,250,000 of its own money in Golf Resort capital improvements.

• The City is less involved in the day-to-day operation of the Golf Resort, serving more in an oversight function and contract manager, a role more suited to a municipal government.

The results of these changes were immediate and positive. In fiscal year 2022/23, the Golf Resort returned an operating profit of $845,948 before capital spending.   In fiscal year 2023/24, the Golf Resort returned an operating profit of $1,660,438 before capital spending.

All reports produced by the City are the most accurate. The results reported by sources other than the City’s Finance Director (audited year-end statements) reflect snapshots or a partial year’s worth of financial data, leading to an incomplete view of the Golf Resort’s financial profitability. Residents are encouraged to view the Indian Wells Golf Resort Budget Book.

	The Indian Wells City Council is dedicating insufficient funds to Public Safety.
	The Indian Wells City Council has made no cuts to Public Safety and continues to dedicate additional funds to expand its services.

The City of Indian Wells’ top priority is offering exceptional public safety to the community. This commitment has been preserved by continuing to make no cuts to Public Safety and by dedicating approximately 29% of the general fund budget to contracting police services.

Several additional safety initiatives have also been put in place, all of which have totaled a fiscal impact of more than $1,274,960. These initiatives include home security assessment training for two Community Service Officers, increased policing by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, police overtime hours for traffic patrol including an additional 12 hours per day for night shift patrol, Home Security Rebate Program, recurring Coffee with a Cop events, a Public Safety-focused social media campaign and a Public Safety website update. 

	The City of Indian Wells budget is dependent upon property taxes.
	Tourism revenues make up more than half of the City of Indian Wells budget.

A large contributor to the City of Indian Wells budget is the revenues collected from tourism. The tourism revenues comprised of the transient occupancy tax, admissions tax and general sales tax make up over 66% of the City's revenue. 

	The City of Indian Wells shares personal information with outside sources.
	The City keeps all personal information collected when residents sign up for mailing lists confidential.

The City of Indian Wells values and respects the privacy of our residents. Our mailing list has always been and will continue to remain confidential. 

Information can be accessed through the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. “The Office of the Assessor maintains records of real and personal property in the County of Riverside. Many of these records are available for sale.” To learn more about purchasing bulk data, visit https://www.rivcoacr.org/bulk-data-sales. 

The General Plan Housing Element has been adopted and submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

The Indian Wells City Council adopted the City’s updated Housing Element at the June 2nd Council Meeting, and authorized staff to submit it to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for their review and certification. The Housing Element describes the City’s updated plan for addressing the housing needs of its residents through October 15, 2029. As stated in HCD’s initial review letter dated January 31, 2022, the draft housing element submitted on December 2, 2021 addressed many statutory requirements; however, revisions were necessary to comply with State Housing Element Law (Article 10.6 of the Gov. Code). The City has made the necessary revisions, which were posted online for public review on May 16, 2022 along with email notifications to those who requested updates, per the requirements of AB 215.  No public comments were received on the revisions.  The City is committed to working with HCD to implement the updated Housing Element, to ensure the legal adequacy of the City’s General Plan, and to preserve local control of land use decisions. 

	The City of Indian Wells Golf Resort lost over $4 million in operating costs during 2020.
	The Indian Wells Golf Resort’s net income from June 2019 to June 2020 was  -$781,209 and from June 2020 to June 2021, the IWGR net income was $360,987.

In a recent op-ed article noting the financial performance of city-owned golf courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Indian Wells was highlighted with figures that do not accurately reflect the Indian Wells Golf Resort’s (IWGR) operations. The figures listed in the op-ed article included Golf Resort operations, City administrative costs, capital spending and depreciation.