Shared Budget Cancel The title field is required!

1. League Michael

   
   3/19/2012 10:03 PM

   Does anyone else have to share a budget with the golf pro? Our golf pro (my boss) has the snack bar, range, merchandise for himself, but the pro shop staff is lumped in with maintenance and our expenses are together also with the pro being in charge of the budgeting. I have only been at the course for a little over a year now but it makes it tough to budget some line items when you arent the only one spending from it (ie overtime, facility maintenance, conf/training, etc) I am trying to convince them that there is a need to separate the maintenance from the pro shop with little luck.

   
   
   
   
2. Gary Carls

   

   19 posts
   
   3/20/2012 9:03 AM

   Michael,
   
   Like you, we have several line items that are shared with the golf shop and it can cause a few problems once in a while. We have some shared items like office supplies and the training budget that have never really been a problem because we each offer our input into the budgeting process each year. We also regularly communicate throughout the year so we are aware when something gets spent that will throw the budget out of whack. In the end the goal is for the combined programs to meet the overall bottom line. In my 12 years here there have been years where I have been over and other years where the golf shop went over but it works ok for us most of the time because we still meet the bottom line.
   
   It sounds like you may not get that same kind of input so that could definitely cause a problem if you feel you don't get the resources that you need to do your work properly.
   
   Our biggest issue right now is that even though we always budgeted overtime for our staff every year to cover holidays, aerations and emergency call outs the direction this year was to cut all that out of our budget and keep actual OT to a minimum. While we were doing that, the golf shop who never budgeted any OT in the past suddenly was allowed to add OT into the budget for their staff to cover holidays. How did that happen?? Working for municipalities can get frustrating at times.
   
   We have also had two positions cut in the last year and a half while the golf shop staff has been pretty much kept intact. It can be frustrating but it doesn't feel like there is much we can do about it right now. Eventually it will impact revenue as we can't get everything done but right now staff just works a little harder and does their best given the situation.
   
   Our motto remains "We'll do the best we can with the tools we are given to work with".

   
   Gary K. Carls, CGCS, President - Oakland Turfgrass Education Initiative
   
   
3. League Michael

   
   3/22/2012 9:03 PM

   Thank you for your response Gary, it can be a bit frustrating but i try and do my best and not let it bother me. The golf department is the step-child of the city departments in our organization, can barely get them to let me borrow a trencher for a couple days or even return my phone calls. My golf pro is the one who does the budgeting and i have very minimal input. I get called frequently and told i am overspending even though i am still under my projections for that point in the year; this is mainly because the revenue is overestimated and then i am supposed to compensate for this.

   
   
   
   
4. Dan Gho

   

   0 posts
   
   3/23/2012 11:03 AM

   Michael,
   We also share a budget with our proshop. The proshop has a few line items that they can draw expenses from, but for the most part any expense that has to do with the golf course or the clubhouse/proshop come from the maintenance budget. I also have tried to get the finance dept to give some sort of separation so I can better monitor expenses. I know exactly what I have spent and where it is being drawn from in the budget, but when I go and get year to date updates from finance there are always expense charged to my budget that I had no recollection of, that have been submitted from the head pro. Sometimes they are rather large, and that just kills the budget that I am working off of. When I have questioned this in the past finance says that the proshop brings in the revenues, and maintenance budget is the only place where we can place expenditures.
   Its the lack of communication between the pro and myself when these purchase are made that I can't stand. Why is it so difficult for someone to pick up the phone and make sure that their are funds for such purchase, or training, memberships, ect.
   I would suggest that when the City is working on the budget for the next year you ask to develop your portion of the budget to meet the needs of your staff and golf course. To have the head pro develop your budget when he probably is not familiar with your programs, equipment needs, staffing levels, overtime, ect, just does not seem efficient. If your city is anything like ours then a tight ran budget is what they are looking for, and if you can add input and make it more economically efficient then why would they not let you assist.
   
   Daniel Gho
   Pacific Grove Golf links Superintendent

   
   
   
   
5. David Brandenburg

   

   3 posts
   
   3/23/2012 4:03 PM

   We have had a shared budget forever. For 28 years it was with a PGA Professional who was a concessionair manager of the golf shop and for the last two a PGA Professional who is an employee.
   
   With the consessionaire he was not a county employee and not allowed to sign purchase requisitions so all things had to come through me as the department head for the property.
   
   Even now the professional can fill out a requistion but I have to sign it. It forces communition but we have had that anyway.
   
   It sounds as though you are in a tough spot with your situation and have to convince someone above you that if it is your budget you need to be responsible for every line item, not just some of them.
   
   Good luck.

   
   
   
   
6. Gary Carls

   

   19 posts
   
   3/26/2012 10:03 AM

   Michael,
   
   The other problem we face is being directed to make purchases or do projects (new signs, tree work, painting, etc.)that don't really do anything to drive revenue yet put our budget out of whack. As I said it can be a bit frustrating at times. Let's see, our expenses are down over $90K year to date, revenues are up and golf looks like it's doing pretty good. Whoops, forgot to tell you that we need to add an additional $120K in overhead from downtown into your budget for next year. Where else can you cut staff while still producing the same product? Thanks for all your hard work though.
   
   Hang in there!!!!

   
   Gary K. Carls, CGCS, President - Oakland Turfgrass Education Initiative