Suggestions and/or help, please!

Our local newspaper is on the warpath again against the airport. See it at:

http://www.press-citizen.com/opinion...edit070903.htm

Several of us have written letters, and I have spoken with anyone who will
listen about the "crown jewel" of Iowa City (as we refer to it -- it really
IS the best G.A. airport in the Midwest) -- but with the budget cuts coming
down the pike I'm afraid the idea of closing the airport is gaining traction
amongst the university crowd. Any suggestions?

For those of you who have visited our wonderful facility in Iowa City, it
would be GREAT if you could send the editor a letter outlining your positive
experiences here.

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eTBPa.36352$H17.11174@sccrnsc02...
Our local newspaper is on the warpath again against the airport. See it
at:

http://www.press-citizen.com/opinion...edit070903.htm

Several of us have written letters, and I have spoken with anyone who will
listen about the "crown jewel" of Iowa City (as we refer to it -- it
really
IS the best G.A. airport in the Midwest) -- but with the budget cuts
coming
down the pike I'm afraid the idea of closing the airport is gaining
traction
amongst the university crowd. Any suggestions?

For those of you who have visited our wonderful facility in Iowa City, it
would be GREAT if you could send the editor a letter outlining your
positive
experiences here.

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,

First, the municipality funded infrastructure SHOULD pay for itself. Hangar
rent should pay for the debt service on the hangars and for upkeep. Etc.
Etc. Etc. Perhaps some fee increases are needed (yuck).

That said, arguing that the airport doesn't bring business to the community
is similar to arguing that roads don't bring business to the community.
Transportation facilitates business, it doesn't bring business on its own
accord. BUT, try to bring business to town without adequate transportation.

Beyond that, the airport generates jobs. How many people are employed doing
airport related business? Cutting the grass... Pumping fuel... Maintaining
aircraft? Renting cars and hotel space? Also, how much personal property
and fuel tax does the airport generate? Is that in the newspaper's
equation?

Going a bit further, how much income does the fire department, the local
park generate, or repaving a road create for the town? Certainly one can
argue that you could identify any government function and call for its
elimination based on the fact that it doesn't pay for itself. Nothing the
government does pays for itself, that's why we have taxes.

Good luck...

KB

A couple years ago my city bought a privately-owned airport (City of Wichita
Falls TX, Kickapoo Airport T47) amid lots of political controversy that the city
would be "subsidizing rich people's toys". But the airport has been profitable
for the city, not only paying *all* its operating expenses, but also the past
year's budget reports show the airport funneling about $77K profit back into the
city's general funds. Surely Iowa City's airport, if managed wisely, ought to be
able to support itself as well.

A couple years ago my city bought a privately-owned airport (City of
Wichita
Falls TX, Kickapoo Airport T47) amid lots of political controversy that
the city
would be "subsidizing rich people's toys". But the airport has been
profitable
for the city, not only paying *all* its operating expenses, but also the
past
year's budget reports show the airport funneling about $77K profit back
into the
city's general funds. Surely Iowa City's airport, if managed wisely, ought
to be
able to support itself as well.

I would be interested to see a financial statement for that airport. How
are they doing it?

Other than airports with commercial airline (either passenger or freight)
operations, I've never seen one that makes a "profit" yet.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
"Checkerbird" wrote in message
...

Doesn't the City have to ante so much of their own money to get federal
dollars for improvements? And if they have received funds in the past, how
easy is it to just 'close' the airport? I don't think they could get away
with a 'Meigs' style closing.

Here in Wisconsin, despite a couple billion dollar deficit, there are a
bunch of improvements going on at small airfields. I just got my Wis DOT
published Airport Directory in the mail, and I was surprised to see a hand
full of airports with remarks about runway extensions, etc.., all to be
completed this year. Morey Airport west of Madison is getting a 4000x100
foot runway, more hangar lots for lease, etc.

--
Ben
C-172 - N13258 @ 87Y

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eTBPa.36352$H17.11174@sccrnsc02...
Our local newspaper is on the warpath again against the airport. See it
at:

http://www.press-citizen.com/opinion...edit070903.htm

Several of us have written letters, and I have spoken with anyone who will
listen about the "crown jewel" of Iowa City (as we refer to it -- it
really
IS the best G.A. airport in the Midwest) -- but with the budget cuts
coming
down the pike I'm afraid the idea of closing the airport is gaining
traction
amongst the university crowd. Any suggestions?

For those of you who have visited our wonderful facility in Iowa City, it
would be GREAT if you could send the editor a letter outlining your
positive
experiences here.

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I'll second Ben's post. Airports here in Wisconsin are getting a lot of
State and Fed funding. STE just got a new taxiway, ramp paving & seal
coating and plans are in the works for an ILS as well as a second taxiway.
MFI is getting partial Fed funding for an FBO building. Have their been any
improvements made lately? Who paid? Is the airport board awake? Have they
applied for any lately?

As for the university.... find out how many professors are pilots then talk
to them about how the university uses the airport. Do the sports teams fly
or take busses? What about the coaches and their recruiting staff members,
do they fly? Does the University have an aviation program? any airplanes?
If not see if the local FBO(s) or CFI's can organize a program. I can't see
how a "State" university's budget can be hampered by a "local" airport.
What kind of local funding do they think they will gain by closing a "local"
airport? Or is it just a bunch of university types thinking too hard and
out loud about things they know nothing about?

Does the airport have any "key" tenants? such as large businesses with
corporate airplanes or aviation departments? I know several airports such
as Lone Rock, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan have gotten improvements and are all
but invincible to local "closure" threats because they have a strong tie to
the large businesses (employment) in the area. Have an employer of a few
hundred people tell the city that they will move if they close the airport
and my guess is that it stays open. Our farm just was forced to "sell" the
state of Wisconsin an aviation navigation easement across the road from the
Lone Rock airport. A large corporation bases their aircraft there and just
bought a larger jet. The larger jet uses more runway so the state extended
the runway and provided more clear area, basically to keep the business
owner happy.

--
Jim Burns III

Remove "nospam" to reply
"Ben Smith" wrote in message
...
Doesn't the City have to ante so much of their own money to get federal
dollars for improvements? And if they have received funds in the past,
how
easy is it to just 'close' the airport? I don't think they could get away
with a 'Meigs' style closing.

Here in Wisconsin, despite a couple billion dollar deficit, there are a
bunch of improvements going on at small airfields. I just got my Wis DOT
published Airport Directory in the mail, and I was surprised to see a hand
full of airports with remarks about runway extensions, etc.., all to be
completed this year. Morey Airport west of Madison is getting a 4000x100
foot runway, more hangar lots for lease, etc.

--
Ben
C-172 - N13258 @ 87Y

Ok, I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I did.
I knew I'd be ****ed and I am..... but still I had to go and do it. I read
the newspaper article. Pardon me while I loose my mind.....

The editor claims that the city is forced to lay off firemen because of a
budget deficit. Obviously if they really needed that many fireman, they'd
raise taxes in order to keep the fire department adequately staffed and the
tax payers would be more than happy to foot the bill. The fact that they
CAN safely cut firemen from the force proves that they have been employing
too many whether they have a budget deficit or not. This bozo should be
chastising the fire department for over hiring and over spending! He
compares a municipal service that I assume is entirely funded by taxpayers
(fire department) to one that is 50% funded by it's users (airport).
hmmmm... now which service is pulling more of it's own weight? In my mind
the city is getting at least a 100% return on it's annual investment in the
airport. Maybe Iowa City's budget is soooo bad that they need a part time
or volunteer fire department that would be forced to hold fund raisers,
raffles, and apply for government grants to help subsidize itself.... wait!
some towns actually do that! Oh My GOD!!! How insane and radical!

Jay, you might hate this idea, but I've seen it work at several airports,
especially if all the hangers are full. The city sells it's hangers and
also sells lots for building new hangers. If the airport has debt on the
hangers, they could sell the hangers to the tenants and pay the debt. I
know several airports where the city has sold the hangers to the plane
owners but maintains ownership of the lot that the hangers sit on. The
tenant then pays property taxes on the improvements (adding to the tax base)
but not on the lot. If they would sell the hangers at fair market value it
may be more than the current debt against them and they might end up with
money left over to re-pave the approaches in front of each hanger or build
new taxiways to new hangers. What an idea, sell the hangers, pay the debt
and increase the tax base. That's more than the whining baby-assed editor
of that newspaper could come up with.

Rant off

--
Jim Burns III

Remove "nospam" to reply


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eTBPa.36352$H17.11174@sccrnsc02...
Our local newspaper is on the warpath again against the airport. See it
at:

http://www.press-citizen.com/opinion...edit070903.htm

Several of us have written letters, and I have spoken with anyone who will
listen about the "crown jewel" of Iowa City (as we refer to it -- it
really
IS the best G.A. airport in the Midwest) -- but with the budget cuts
coming
down the pike I'm afraid the idea of closing the airport is gaining
traction
amongst the university crowd. Any suggestions?

For those of you who have visited our wonderful facility in Iowa City, it
would be GREAT if you could send the editor a letter outlining your
positive
experiences here.

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Checkerbird writes:

A couple years ago my city bought a privately-owned airport (City of
Wichita Falls TX, Kickapoo Airport T47) amid lots of political
controversy that the city would be "subsidizing rich people's
toys". But the airport has been profitable for the city, not only
paying *all* its operating expenses, but also the past year's budget
reports show the airport funneling about $77K profit back into the
city's general funds. Surely Iowa City's airport, if managed wisely,
ought to be able to support itself as well.

From what I could gather in the newspaper story, the problem is not
the airport's general operations, but the cost of servicing a loan for
a bunch of hangars that the city perhaps shouldn't have bought. That
throws the story's conclusion a bit into doubt -- if the airport were
to close, the city would still have to pay off that loan, and would
have no offsetting revenue.

Jay: aside from the hangar loan, how close is the airport to breaking
even on operations?


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/

"Jay Honeck" writes:

The city spends $170,000 per year (approximately) on the airport.
The Airport Manager -- a city employee with dubious and fuzzy duties
-- earns probably $50K of that. His assistant (the guy who does all
the work, mowing the lawns, etc.) has been with the city over 25
years, so he's probably making nearly $50K himself. But, of course,
there's no mention (either in the paper, or in City Hall) of
eliminating THAT expense.

The loan they are servicing is for a GIGANTIC maintenance hangar that a
previous FBO (PS Air, still operational in Cedar Rapids, IA) insisted on
having. Three years ago PS Air crapped out on the city, and literally
trucked everything up to Cedar Rapids in the middle of the night without
paying their rent.

That's net, after whatever the airport brings in? It would be
interesting to see a high-level P&L statement. It looks like HR is
the biggest expense, so a layoff would make sense -- the only danger
is that they'd give the airport manager several 100K in severance and
charge that to the airport as well.

The choice to build the big hangar is done, and the city is stuck
paying no matter what happens to the airport, just as they would be if
they had built a big sports stadium. Bad luck, dumb move, learn to
live with it, and try to learn from it. At least the hangar is a
cheaper mistake than a stadium by a couple of orders of magnitude.

How busy is your airport? If you weren't saddled with the expense of
the manager and the hangar loan, could you fund it from revenue?

It might make sense for the FBO (or more likely, a separate group
founded by the FBO, your hotel, and any other interested parties) to
go to the city and offer $1 to take over operations of the airport, on
the condition that the loan stays with the city. It wouldn't actually
do the city any fiscal good, but it would remove any cloud of doubt
over the airport itself, and the city and newspaper would be happy.
That would head off any attempt in the future to sell the airport to
build a subdivision, etc., if the city ends up more strapped for cash.


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/

I've heard of some cities that assign the airport manager's job to the
winning FBO bidder. The manager of the FBO is also the "airport manager".
Basically his duties are just to report to the citie the events and goings
on at the airport, collect hanger rent and stay awake between fuel
customers.
Jim Burns III

"David Megginson" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" writes:

The city spends $170,000 per year (approximately) on the airport.
The Airport Manager -- a city employee with dubious and fuzzy duties
-- earns probably $50K of that. His assistant (the guy who does all
the work, mowing the lawns, etc.) has been with the city over 25
years, so he's probably making nearly $50K himself. But, of course,
there's no mention (either in the paper, or in City Hall) of
eliminating THAT expense.

The loan they are servicing is for a GIGANTIC maintenance hangar that a
previous FBO (PS Air, still operational in Cedar Rapids, IA) insisted on
having. Three years ago PS Air crapped out on the city, and literally
trucked everything up to Cedar Rapids in the middle of the night without
paying their rent.

That's net, after whatever the airport brings in? It would be
interesting to see a high-level P&L statement. It looks like HR is
the biggest expense, so a layoff would make sense -- the only danger
is that they'd give the airport manager several 100K in severance and
charge that to the airport as well.

The choice to build the big hangar is done, and the city is stuck
paying no matter what happens to the airport, just as they would be if
they had built a big sports stadium. Bad luck, dumb move, learn to
live with it, and try to learn from it. At least the hangar is a
cheaper mistake than a stadium by a couple of orders of magnitude.

How busy is your airport? If you weren't saddled with the expense of
the manager and the hangar loan, could you fund it from revenue?

It might make sense for the FBO (or more likely, a separate group
founded by the FBO, your hotel, and any other interested parties) to
go to the city and offer $1 to take over operations of the airport, on
the condition that the loan stays with the city. It wouldn't actually
do the city any fiscal good, but it would remove any cloud of doubt
over the airport itself, and the city and newspaper would be happy.
That would head off any attempt in the future to sell the airport to
build a subdivision, etc., if the city ends up more strapped for cash.


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/