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#1
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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" |
#2
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"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 |
#3
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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. |
#4
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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 $77K profit back into the city's general funds. Surely Iowa City's airport, if managed wisely, ought to be able to support itself as well. I would be interested to see a financial statement for that airport. How are they doing it? Other than airports with commercial airline (either passenger or freight) operations, I've never seen one that makes a "profit" yet. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" "Checkerbird" wrote in message ... |
#5
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Doesn't the City have to ante so much of their own money to get federal
dollars for improvements? And if they have received funds in the past, how easy is it to just 'close' the airport? I don't think they could get away with a 'Meigs' style closing. Here in Wisconsin, despite a couple billion dollar deficit, there are a bunch of improvements going on at small airfields. I just got my Wis DOT published Airport Directory in the mail, and I was surprised to see a hand full of airports with remarks about runway extensions, etc.., all to be completed this year. Morey Airport west of Madison is getting a 4000x100 foot runway, more hangar lots for lease, etc. -- Ben C-172 - N13258 @ 87Y "Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:eTBPa.36352$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" |
#6
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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 |
#7
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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" |
#8
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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/ |
#9
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"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/ |
#10
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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/ |
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