Monroe County raises rental-car fee to fund Key West consolidated facility; airport officials brief commissioners on Silver Airways bankruptcy and Concourse A/​

Monroe County commissioners voted to increase the customer facility charge (CFC) at Key West International Airport from $8 to $9 per rental-car transaction day, effective March 1, 2026, and heard an extended briefing on the recent Silver Airways bankruptcy, airport finances and ongoing capital work at Concourse A and Marathon Airport.

The CFC change was presented as the funding mechanism for a consolidated rental car facility at Key West International Airport. Airport Director Richard Strickland told commissioners the project team revised the original scope and reduced the estimated facility cost by about $20 million from an earlier roughly $74–75 million figure to a lower baseline that officials said better fits current budgets. Commissioners moved to raise the fee to $9 and the motion passed with no recorded opposition.

Strickland explained how the CFC works and how it will back the planned bonds. “Customer facility charge … it is only charged to those people who decide to rent a car. So it is not a tax. It is a fee on the rental car receipt,” he said during the presentation. Frasca & Associates, the county’s financial adviser on airport debt, told the board the planned bonds for the rental-car facility would be secured by CFC revenues and airport revenues only; the firm reiterated that “no Monroe County dollars will be pledged to the repayment of the planned bonds,” a point emphasized during the financial briefing by Gisela Shanahan, the firm’s managing director.

The board also heard a detailed review of the recent Silver Airways bankruptcy proceedings from airport outside counsel Eric Smith of Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell. Smith described the unique problems the county faced during Silver’s Chapter 11 and eventual conversion to Chapter 7, including a period when passenger facility charges (PFCs) and other airport funds were not segregated as expected. “What became clear is they were using airport money to fund operations,” Smith told commissioners, noting the airline’s operational shutdown over an FAA safety action and the subsequent loss of revenue that contributed to the airline’s collapse and liquidation.

Smith said the county and its counsel were able to secure segregation of PFCs during the case and recover certain post-petition collections — but that pre-petition claims will be subject to a longer trustee-led investigation and are unlikely to be resolved quickly. He also said airline service to Key West is expected to resume under Spirit Airlines, which has indicated plans to begin service in November; airport staff said they will negotiate and finalize an operating agreement with Spirit.

Frasca’s briefing provided context on outstanding debt from the Concourse A expansion and the metrics used by rating agencies to assess airport bond security. Frasca said Key West’s PFC collections and airport revenues remain above the minimum levels assumed at bond issuance and that Moody’s recently affirmed the airport’s rating with a stable outlook. Frasca reiterated that the Concourse A bonds are secured by PFCs and airport revenues and that the planned rental-car bonds will similarly rely on CFCs, not county tax dollars.

Commissioners also received construction updates: Concourse A phase 2 work (new TSA checkpoint, baggage claim expansion, airline offices and a connector bridge) is ongoing with parts planned to open in January 2026 and remaining work into mid‑2026. At Marathon Airport, a multi‑phase runway rehabilitation began in May; the runway was closed August 18 for major reconstruction and paving, with an on‑schedule reopening target of October 7, 2025, pending weather and final inspections.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the coordination challenges that followed the Silver proceedings and the importance of protecting airport revenues and reserve accounts while continuing planned capital programs. Airport staff committed to returning with detailed financing steps and agreements as design and underwriting for the rental-car facility are finalized.