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Tenants and supervisors clash over proposed Whitman Regional hangar rent hikes; no final vote recorded
Summary
Hundreds of hangar tenants, several supervisors and county staff debated proposed large rent increases tied to a consultant market study; tenants urged use of state comparables or CPI indexing. An amendment to use CPI‑U or 3% was proposed and later withdrawn; the transcript does not record a board vote adopting the hangar-rate ordinance tonight.
Public commenters and county supervisors spent more than an hour debating proposed rent increases for hangars at Whitman Regional Airport, sharply questioning the consultant market study that underpins the county’s proposal and urging a more gradual, CPI‑based approach.
At the start of the public-comment period, Larry Last told the board he could “talk to you for an hour on this hangar rate issue,” but was limited to two minutes. He said the study relied on metropolitan comparables — including Chicago and Detroit — that are not suitable for Winnebago County and warned against applying distant-market data to local rates.
“I feel a couple of supervisors here tonight may have a solution that would be fair to the tenants and the taxpayers,” Last said, urging the board to consider local conditions and the long‑term community benefit from the airport.
Several other tenants made similar points. Jeff Downey, a retired Wisconsin state trooper who rents a hangar, asked the board to inspect hangar conditions before raising rents and…
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