Talking points about subsidies miss the mark.

I have been following the Auburn City Council meetings for some time, and I am heartened to see the amount of interest since the evaluation notices were mailed. We need informed resident interest in our government – the key word being “informed.”

Of specific note is a comment brought up at two separate council meetings that the council should take a closer look at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport and consider a reduction of the city “subsidy” to it. On a second occasion, the same individual commented that the users of the airport, not the city of Auburn, should pay for the facility.

These may be good sound bites to gain interest, but become less captivating when the facts are put on the table. The facts I speak of are not just the basic airport revenues from leases, services or user fees, but rather the tax income provided to the Twin Cities.

Operating off the latest information I have (fiscal year 2004-05), the airport revenues were about $145,000, but the property and personal taxes collected were $556,000 for the airport and its associate business park. Per the agreement between the cities of Auburn and Lewiston, the collected taxes are split between the two cities. The airport is not allowed to retain any of these taxes for its budget. So the term city subsidy is more than a little misleading. It would connote that the city coughs up money from the general fund to run the airport, simply because the airport doesn’t bring in enough revenue. As is obvious, the subsidy is more a partial rebate of taxes collected throughout the year by Auburn and Lewiston back to the airport to help defray maintenance costs. Little money is put back into the airport for improvement of facilities or expansion to meet growing business demands.

The residents of Auburn need to fully understand that municipal airports are revenue producers for the cities they support. Benefits to the city are not just in the form of airport revenues or taxes. The true, untold story is the direct (supported businesses payroll), indirect (transient operations in form of area businesses supports) and induced economic impact (often referred to as the economic multiplier effect within the community of the monies spent in direct and indirect operations).

A rough annual calculation based on 40 employees working at various companies at the airport with an average salary of $29,000 (Mainebiz Fact Book, 2005), the direct economic benefit is $1.3 million. The indirect benefit based on 35,000 transient operations is $4.3 million. The induced economic impact is $16.8 million. Total economic impact of the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport is a bit more than $22 million annually. These figures do not include personal, property or income taxes and are based on formulas supplied by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Web site.

This is only one example of the buffoonery that is currently going on with Auburn’s tax debates. If Auburn residents want to take an active role in their community, then they have a responsibility to seek out the facts, weigh them and make an informed presentation regarding each decision.

Teresa McGonagill is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who moved with her family to Auburn in 2004. Her husband is the Auburn-Lewiston Airport manager.

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