MEXICO – Oakdale Country Club will receive tax-exempt status from the town beginning July 1.

Selectmen heard a presentation by tax assessor Rob Stevens and Oakdale spokesman Frank DiConzo at their Wednesday board meeting explaining the reasons why the half-century old golf club fits under the charitable and benevolent section of the Maine tax code.

With the exemption, the club will not have to pay about $9,800 annually in property taxes, a figure DiConzo said could make a difference between the nine-hole golf club remaining in the black, or returning to running with a deficit.

“We’re struggling to keep the gates open with the decline in the area’s population,” said Diconzo. “We’re trying to keep the doors open and provide recreation.”

He said eliminating the position of paid golf pro a couple of years ago brought the club back into the black.

Membership has dropped from a high of 700 or 800, to just under 200 in 2006.

In lieu of paying property taxes, DiConzo said the club agreed to pay a portion of the costs for providing fire, police and ambulance coverage, a figure Stevens said usually runs about a third of the property taxes.

Stevens said he sends similar public safety bills to other nonprofits and most are willing to pay a share, if possible.

Stevens said his conversations with state tax people affirmed that the club meets the tax-exempt criteria.

One of those criteria concerns the fate of the property on which the club is located. Stevens said if the club closes, the land would revert to the town.

“No one would profit from their demise,” Stevens said.

The club is also a federally-approved nonprofit organization and is excluded from state and federal taxes.

DiConzo said the club allows other nonprofits to use the course for fundraising efforts, and offers low rates for families, seniors and those over age 70.

Local school golf teams are allowed to use the course at no charge.

Town Manager John Madigan said he wants a letter from the country club board stating that the organization has agreed to make a payment in lieu of taxes for public safety coverage.

The decision by Mexico’s tax assessor to grant tax-exempt status to Oakdale Country Club follows on a similar action taken by neighboring Rumford’s Board of Assessors, who granted tax-exempt status Tuesday to Black Mountain of Maine.