The Evolution of the Budget

Since 2022, the Star Valley Ranch Association has taken significant steps to improve financial transparency and accountability by restructuring its annual operating budget. The primary objective of this process has been to clearly distinguish the operating expenses associated with the golf facilities from those of the Association, while demonstrating that annual assessments can no longer or are not needed to subsidize golf operations.

2022 – Establishing Financial Independence

Beginning in 2022, the Association formulated its annual operating budget to identify golf operations separately from assessment-funded Association activities. This marked an important step toward establishing a clearer understanding of the financial performance of the golf facilities and their ability to operate without financial support from annual assessments.

2024 – Departmental Allocation of Payroll Expenses

In 2024, the Association further refined its budgeting practices by allocating payroll-related expenses, including associated employment taxes, to the departments responsible for those costs.

These departments included:

• Administration
• Facilities
• Golf Pro Shop
• Golf Course Maintenance

This adjustment provided a more accurate representation of the true personnel costs associated with each department and further distinguished golf operations from assessment-funded Association services.

2025 – Reclassification of Operating Expenses and Banking Procedures

As the Association progressed into 2025, additional expenses were recategorized in a continued effort to accurately identify the operating costs attributable to the golf facilities and those attributable to the Association.

These adjustments included the allocation of golf course liability insurance and point-of-sale software subscription expenses to golf operations.

During this same budgetary period, the Association received a legal opinion addressing its various sources of income and the appropriate utilization of those funds.

As a result, the Banking Flow Chart was introduced to provide greater clarity regarding the collection, allocation, and use of Association revenues.

2027 – Property Tax Allocation and Seasonal Payroll Redistribution

Within the proposed 2027 operating budget, the Association has taken another significant step toward identifying the full cost of operating its golf facilities by allocating golf course property taxes directly to golf expenses.

While this adjustment increases the expenses attributed to golf operations, another important refinement helps offset a portion of those costs: the redistribution of winter payroll and associated expenses for golf course maintenance employees.

During the winter months, members of the golf course maintenance team perform essential services for the entire Association, including:

• Snowplowing and winter property maintenance
• Grooming cross-country skiing trails
• Maintaining sledding hills
• Preparing and maintaining the 60-foot by 80-foot outdoor ice-skating rink

Because these activities serve the broader Association rather than golf operations, the corresponding employee wages, payroll taxes, and associated expenses are allocated to the Facilities Department during the periods in which those services are performed.

The Facilities Department is supported through annual assessments.

This distinction is particularly important because it ensures that golf-generated revenue is not being used to subsidize general Association winter maintenance services, just as assessment revenue is not intended to subsidize golf operations.

The evolution of the Association's operating budget from 2022 through the proposed 2027 budget reflects a deliberate and ongoing effort to improve financial accountability, transparency, and the equitable allocation of expenses.

Each successive budget has further refined the separation between golf operations and the Association's assessment-funded responsibilities.

It is important to recognize that these accounting adjustments do not necessarily represent new expenses to the Association. In many instances, they represent the reallocation of existing expenses to the departments that actually benefit from or are responsible for those services.

The ultimate goal is to provide members with a clear, accurate, and transparent understanding of what it costs to operate the golf facilities independently and what it costs to provide the services supported by annual assessments.

This approach allows the Association's management, Finance Committee, and Board of Directors to make more informed decisions regarding annual assessments, golf fees, departmental expenditures, and the long-term financial sustainability of Star Valley Ranch.