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Here’s some fun facts about the only real airport improvement plan that was seriously considered by the commissioners. The others were never given an equal chance, and earlier plans by Ron Dent, who ran the airport for 20-plus years, were far cheaper and either outright ignored or blasted as being unworkable.
From their website, the actual all-in costs for this new plan (and all the associated infrastructure needed to make it work) is $238,078,404 over the next 19 years.
To fund this extravagance, the hope is that over $118 million in AIP (Airport Improvement Program) grants are awarded in stages during the entire 19 years of construction.
These grant programs are subject to review by congress to renew (currently under review again) and if renewed, the total amount will be budgeted. To get one of these grants, if congress even funds them, Durango has to compete nationally against all the other requests which are awarded based upon need and the airport’s relative importance to the national air transportation grid. This is in no way a certainty for us.
What I love is that the proposed mill levy against our property taxes is not a set number. This levy “would be set each year at an amount sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the debt incurred” to build this airport.
In essence, this is a blank check we’d be writing to our commissioners to cover our part of the debt used to finance this incredibly expensive proposal. If the grants do not materialize, which supporters have admitted are no sure thing, then the debt to build this thing increases exponentially.
To cover it, by voting “Yes,” we’ve given our commissioners the authority to increase the tax to whatever they need with no oversight at all from the public.
Sure we need improvements, but there are multiple ways to achieve those improvements other than this $238 million plan which we are being forcibly told is the only solution available.
Vote “No” in November and send them back to the drawing board for a more reasonable and fiscally responsible solution.
Steven Thibodeaux
Durango
