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Airport authority briefs council on runway and terminal needs, asks about county mill levy support
Summary
An airport authority representative outlined aging infrastructure, FAA/state funding formulas (FAA ~90–95% with a local match), an estimated runway reseal of roughly $500,000 and a terminal renovation around $1,000,000 (local match ~ $300,000), and said a countywide mill levy could help build reserves and pay for local match and maintenance.
The airport authority chairman told the council that the airport’s infrastructure is aging and that future projects will require a combination of federal, state and local funding.
The chairman reviewed the airport’s financing history: beginning in earlier decades the city and county each contributed two mills as airport sponsorship, but legal and funding changes around 2018 reduced local revenue and left the authority with limited reserves. He said the FAA typically funds the majority of runway projects (he cited figures of roughly 90–95% from FAA programs) and that the state aeronautics office can help with portions of the remaining match.
He described two near-term needs: a runway reseal/repair (a rough estimate discussed in the meeting was around $500,000) and a terminal renovation or replacement that engineers have estimated at about $1,000,000. For the terminal project, he said the expected local share could be on the order of $300,000 or more depending on final scope. The chairman also described operational needs such as maintaining a tractor (example repair cited at $15,000) and retaining runway planning funds to apply for FAA grants.
To provide stable local funding, he said the authority and county have discussed placing a countywide mill levy on the ballot that could generate roughly $90,000 a year countywide (figures discussed during the meeting), which would help accumulate matching funds and pay for maintenance between grant cycles. He cautioned that projects require planning and funding commitments before the FAA will commit construction funds.
Why it matters: Runway and terminal projects affect medical flights, UPS feeder service and potential economic development that depend on reliable airport infrastructure; federal grants require a local match and documented local commitment to maintenance.
Next steps: The airport authority will continue discussions with county officials and engineers, and the council indicated it would revisit the mill-levy resolution once the county and city have refined the numbers and legal language for any ballot measure.
