Page one of the Times last week had an interesting article on how the sanitary district is helping the golf courses with their turf sodium issues.

The article should have said that the taxpayers of Fountain Hills are helping the golf courses by giving them at least $45,000 in rebates to offset their turf maintenance costs. When the district rebates any monies, they are directly impacting each resident’s sewer bill.

Although the $45,000 is not a great sum of money, one has to wonder what other favors have been handed out to businesses on water. Do these businesses pay for this treated water at all?

If so, at what rate compared to others? If not, it sure would be nice to elevate the town lake level which would make the smell a little less pungent in the summer.

I think it would be enlightening for the sanitary district to educate us on how these decisions are made. On a related point, what favors do we receive back from these golf courses?

Ah, I know! They provide discounts to residents of the town for greens fees, right? Nope, they do not. Such good neighbors!

By the way, it wasn’t too long ago that the owner of SunRidge Canyon golf course suggested that all home owners with water softeners should switch from sodium chloride to potassium chloride, a cost of $25 per bag instead of $5. I did not hear of any rebate for residents.