Today a local government body will consider revising a land deal with a familiar developer, allowing said developer to profit handsomely and leaving taxpayers to wonder whether such giveaways will ever end.

This time, the familiar storyline will play out before the Las Vegas City Council. The protagonist is golf course developer, philanthropist and campaign contributor Bill Walters, who wants to convert the Royal Links Golf Club into a residential community.

Eight years ago, when the land under the club was owned by the city, Mr. Walters entered a 50-year lease that allowed him to build the golf course in exchange for an annual payment of $100,000. Because the 160 acres at Sloan Lane and Vegas Valley Drive are close to a smelly wastewater treatment facility, a deed restriction prohibited the construction of homes on the land.

With an average green fee of about $200, only two paid rounds per day at Royal Links would give Mr. Walters more than enough money to make the lease payment. Cheaper rent couldn't be found on Fremont Street. But in 1999, Mr. Walters decided against paying $5 million over 50 years, opting instead to buy the land outright for $894,000.

Now the cost of operating an upscale golf course is far less desirable than a stake in the valley's hot housing market. And Mr. Walters' deal with the city allows him to have the deed restriction lifted (with the council's blessing) for about $7 million, a sum that represents the residential value of the land in 1999 plus 6 percent annual interest.

Of course, residential land has appreciated far more than 6 percent per year since 1999. If the council agrees to let homes replace the golf course, the land is worth closer to $64 million. Which means Mr. Walters could have access to land once owned by Las Vegas taxpayers at a $54 million discount.

To be fair, circumstances sometimes change. Mr. Walters did not foresee water restrictions and increased costs when he built Royal Links, and few in the city could have imagined the price of land soaring out of sight in just a couple of years.

But regardless of the change in market forces, the taxpayer always ends up on the losing end of local government land deals. Southern Nevada officials continue to present Mr. Walters and other developers with no-risk propositions and a willingness to change terms on the fly. A deed restriction lifted. A parcel rezoned. Lease terms unavailable to businesspeople of lesser name recognition. This is public stewardship and planning at its very worst.

Technological improvements in odor management at the sewage plant won't stop taxpayers from complaining that this deal stinks. The Las Vegas City Council should use today's agenda as an opportunity to stand firm and keep Mr. Walters' deed restriction intact.