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Keith Benman Gary Airport gets Fiscal Monitor ReportA draft report from the City of Gary's fiscal monitor says the airport should shoulder more of its own costs while looking for new sources of regional support, according to Airport Director Chris Curry. The draft report was delivered to the airport on Tuesday, and Curry was scheduled to discuss its finding with the fiscal monitor Wednesday. "I think the report is helpful and the airport will explore all the recommendations they have suggested," Curry said. "To some degree we have started to explore some of those initiatives already." Neither the airport nor the Indiana Finance Authority plan to release the report until it is in its final form. In a key finding, the report recommends the state's Distressed Unit Appeals Board grant the airport's appeal to exceed state-mandated tax caps for the next two years, Curry said. Even if the appeal is granted, the airport will see its revenue cut in half from what it was just two years ago, Curry said. Curry said the report points out a number of other Indiana airports enjoy regional support for their operations and recommends that the Gary airport explore that same option. For example, South Bend Regional Airport was supported by $2.9 million in county-wide property tax revenues in 2008 and Fort Wayne's two airports received about $3.6 million in county-wide property taxes, according to the report. The report also states the airport should begin shouldering more of the cost for services the City of Gary now supplies, Curry said. Those include salaries for Gary firefighters stationed at the airport, which come to about $490,000 per year. This article ran on nwitimes.com on December 23, 2009. |
