Aurora committee OKs small increase to airport fuel flowage fee

The Bill, Zoning and Economic Development Committee voted Feb. 10 to approve ordinance 25-0967 to raise the Aurora Municipal Airport fuel flowage fee from 5¢ to 6¢ per gallon.

Steve Andress, Airport Division, told the committee: "as the title indicates, we intend to raise the fuel flowage fee out at the airport from 5¢ per gallon to 6¢ per gallon." He said the fee had not been changed since 1990 and that fixed-base operator (FBO) lease terms limit how frequently and how much the city may increase the charge.

Andress said the five-year aggregate consumer price index (CPI) formula embedded in those agreements effectively limits the size of each permitted adjustment. He estimated the airport sells about 1,000,000 gallons annually and that a one-cent-per-gallon increase translates to roughly $50,000 in additional revenue. "That nickel obviously translates about 50,000," he said, explaining the scale of the change in the context of current retail prices.

Committee members pressed staff on whether the city plans to incrementally raise the fee toward regional averages; staff said the intent is to bring incremental increases forward over time so the fee approaches the 12–15¢ per-gallon range seen at some nearby airports, but that contractual constraints restrict immediate increases.

A motion to approve the ordinance was made and seconded; the committee voted in favor and the motion carried, recorded in the minutes as "motion carried 5 nothing." The minutes and packet list the ordinance as 25-0967 and reference section 5-56 of the City Code.

Next steps: the committee-approved ordinance moves to the full City Council according to the city's ordinance-adoption process.