Jasper County Airport Commission reviews budget, flags $419,100 gap and debates fuel pricing

The Jasper County Airport Commission spent the bulk of its July 8 meeting reviewing the adopted 2026 airport budget and operational revenue options, while commissioners pressed staff on a $419,100 gap between approved revenue and approved expenses.

At the start of the budget briefing, Lenny Sansone walked the commission through the adopted and amended budget columns and a 2027 request, highlighting changes across revenue and expense lines. "Altogether, the total revenue that was approved was 1,082,200," Sansone said, and "the total expense line that was approved was 1,500,300," leaving what he described as "a $419,100 deficit in these two numbers." He also listed a series of line-item adjustments, noting some requested revenues were reduced (for example, operating-agreement revenue from $24,000 to $2,400 in the approved budget) and some expenses were increased after finance adjustments.

Commissioners asked how overages or shortfalls are handled on single line items. County finance staff explained transfers must be recorded through the finance department and that the county ordinance sets thresholds at which only the county council can approve line-item adjustments. "Those things need to be done with a budget adjustment," a staff member said, adding that staff would provide the specific ordinance language later.

Fuel operations and pricing drew sustained attention. Commissioners and staff reported a recent conversation with Titan, the airport fuel vendor, about fees and margins. One commissioner said Titan told them using a Titan card incurs "0 percent" merchant fees while standard credit cards carry a fee (cited in the meeting as about 1.85%). Commissioners discussed regional price differences, ancillary revenue at neighboring airports and the effect of taxes on competitiveness. Sansone noted fuel sales growth and gave recent figures to the commission.

Public comment reinforced the pricing concerns for general aviation operators. "I'm Brad Fuller. I'm an aircraft owner at the airport," Fuller said during the public-comment period. He told the commission pilots regularly compare prices on ForeFlight and cited nearby airports with self-service prices he said run $1.50 to $1.80 a gallon lower, urging the commission to consider convenience and ancillary services when setting strategy.

Commissioners asked staff to provide monthly line-item financial reports to track actuals versus the adopted and amended budgets and to schedule a workshop to explore revenue opportunities for underused airport property. The commission did not take additional formal budgetary action during the meeting; members said they would follow up with staff and the county council as needed.

The commission closed the session after routine concluding remarks. The next procedural step is for staff to provide the requested ordinance language about transfer authority and the monthly financial reports members requested.