Lincoln County airport advisory board recommends raising ground‑lease rate to $0.35 per square foot; commissioners weigh budget impact

James Golsan, a member of the Lincoln County Airport advisory board, told commissioners on Aug. 12 that the board recommends increasing county ground‑lease rates for hangars to $0.35 per square foot and restoring 25‑year lease terms with five‑year lookbacks. "If we go to 35¢, the revenue basically doubles," Golsan said, citing a survey of ground‑lease rates across eight Midwestern states and the board’s review of local leases.

The proposal covers new and renewing leases and would be applied incrementally as leases come due; the advisory board projects the south 20‑acre parcel the county bought could generate roughly $77,000–$78,000 annually at the higher rate once infrastructure is complete. Golsan told the commission the average county lease currently runs about 17¢ per square foot and that moving to 35¢ would help close the gap between lease receipts and airport costs.

Dave (David) Myers, the airport manager, outlined recent investments at the Marv Ski Lincoln County Airport, including north and south ramp replacements, a beacon tower and improved runway lighting. He said the airport houses about 107 aircraft and 73 hangars and that federal and state grants have covered a large share of recent capital projects. "We just don't have to pay that 1.2 or 1.4" million when projects are grant‑funded, Myers said of recent ramp projects.

Commissioners and staff pushed back that a 35¢ ground‑lease rate alone may not make the airport fully revenue neutral. In the meeting’s budget discussion staff displayed a slide indicating the airport would require additional cash from the county general fund to balance its budget; when asked to read the number aloud the presenter said the airport "is gonna need is the $1.43 $9.59 of cash from the general fund to balance its budget," a figure ambiguous in the transcript that staff said they would verify. Total airport expenditures shown on the slide were read as about $1,100,000.

Several commissioners asked staff to reconcile the advisory board’s revenue projections with the published budget and recommended study work to model lease increases, phased implementation, and the likely timing of new hangar construction on the south 20 acres. Craig Arnold, a hangar owner and pilot, urged the commission to adopt 25‑year lease terms to allow developers to secure financing for larger hangars and to pursue an instrument approach for the airport to increase its appeal to larger aircraft.

The advisory board’s recommendation was presented for discussion; no formal change in county lease policy was adopted at the Aug. 12 meeting. Commissioners directed staff to revisit the budget figures, confirm the expected grant reimbursements and revenue projections, and return with a clearer fiscal analysis before any change is adopted.

Ending: The commission took no immediate vote on lease‑rate changes; staff will return with reconciled budget numbers and a recommendation at a future meeting.