A proposal to turn a public golf course in Kingsville into a public park could hinge on the county Revenue Authority's ability to pay for renovations at another public course near Dulaney High School.

Changes to Longview, located in Cockeysville, are only conceptual. One plan presented Aug. 28 to the authority board showed a reconfiguration of the road leading into the facility, a new storage building and a new lighted driving range. A reconfigured course would frame holes with old-growth trees already on the course.

The plan could cost between $2.2 million and $2.8 million, according to William "Lynnie" Cook, executive director of the authority's golf division.

But those costs are "not doable under our current circumstances," said Hannan Sibel, chairman of the five-member authority board.

Renovations of Longview would be needed to replace the loss of some services available at Gunpowder Falls golf course, in Kingsville, if that site is transferred to the county.

County officials want the 122-acre Kingsville course for a planned park. The county owns an adjacent 28-acre parcel. Negotiations to buy an additional 66-acres continue. Those properties would be combined with the golf course to form a park with trails for hiking and biking and ballfields near I-95, according to Don Mohler, a county spokesman.

"A 200-acre park is a tremendous county resource," Mohler said.

"We're really in a holding pattern and respect the independent authority of the Revenue Authority," said Mohler, who declined to comment further on negotiations with the authority.

Authority officials want to complete any deal before the end of the year and close Gunpowder in January.

"January and February are the absolute worst months (for golf)," said George Hale, the authority's chief executive. "If we're going to transfer the course, the ideal point would be in January."

The authority bought the Kingsville course, formerly known as the Mt. Vista Golf Course, in a 2004 foreclosure sale for about $2.1 million in cash from its own operating budget. Since then, the quasi-public agency has pumped nearly another million into improvements including drilling wells in search of enough water to irrigate the course.

The Kingsville course is a favorite of younger and older players because of its shorter 18-hole course. It also is the poorest financial performer of any of the six golf courses operated by the authority.

Transferring the course to the county would remove that financial burden. Authority board members said they were not willing to take a loss on the value of the property to increase the overall profitability of golf operations.

But the county does not want to reimburse the authority for the purchase, according to an authority memo that outlines negotiations between the authority and County Administrative Office Fred Homan.

Instead, Homan offered a three-year moratorium on the collection of amusement taxes from the authority plus another eight years of payments at half the current rate, or about $2.6 million.

But not everyone on the authority's board is happy with the deal as it stands.

"We're willing to cooperate with the county if that park is important and necessary. We're going to work hard to work it out with them," Sibel said. "I don't think we can afford to give it away."

Bryan P. Sears is political editor for Patuxent Publishing Co.'s Baltimore County papers.

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