NACo urges Congress to fully fund the Airport Improvement Program and provide spending flexibility

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The nation’s counties, which own and operate about one-third of the nation’s airports, today urged a House Transportation Committee subcommittee to authorize and guarantee $4 billion annually to support the federal   Airport Improvement Program (AIP).   AIP provides federal grants to counties and other public agencies for the planning and development of public-use airports. 

James D. Healy, a county board member representing DuPage County, Ill., testified on behalf of the National Association of Counties (NACo) before the Subcommittee on Aviation and Infrastructure.  The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), held the hearing to consider reauthorization of the Federal Airport and Aviation Program.  The program and the user fees that support it expire on Sept. 30.

“We recommend that the AIP program be funded at a level of no less than $4 billion annually…and (we) support guaranteed funding of the AIP program,” said Healy, a member of NACo’s Transportation Steering Committee and Large Urban County Caucus.   “Airports are going to become substantially more congested, with more enplanements, and the existing infrastructure, both airside and landside, will be strained by that increased usage.”

Healy noted that the $4 billion AIP authorization request is in line with the House Budget Resolution.  He raised concerns, though, about changes proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in how AIP is funded.   Traditionally, the aviation and airport programs are funded mainly through a combination of ticket taxes, aviation fuel taxes and general funds revenues.   The FAA proposal drops ticket taxes and moves to a system of user fees and increased fuel taxes, while maintaining a share of general fund revenue.

“NACo believes the current revenue structure, in place since 1970, and revenue sources for funding the AIP program have worked,” Healy said.

In addition, Healy told the subcommittee that counties need greater flexibility to determine the most beneficial way to utilize federal AIP dollars. 

“At DuPage Airport, our application for funding for a larger emergency response vehicle more appropriate for our fleet mix has been denied,” Healy said.  “While not a commercial airport, we have large corporate aircraft using our airport equivalent in size to regional jets now routinely utilized by commercial airlines, and we need increased emergency response capacity.”   DuPage Airport serves communities in the Chicago metropolitan area.

The NACo Board of Directors adopted transportation policy earlier this month on the reauthorization of the Federal Airport and Aviation Program.  It is available at www.naco.org. 

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