Author raises doubts about city airport supporters' information

In my opinion, proponents of expanding the Kalispell City Airport have a hard time telling the truth.

They pretend, for instance, that millions of dollars of federal funds are just waiting to be claimed. That’s “pie in the sky” that is very unlikely to land in Kalispell. City Airport has three strikes against it in getting such funding:

(1) It’s only 10 miles from another federally supported airport; (2) settlement of Diamond Aire’s lawsuit against the city allows that private company on private land to operate “through the fence,” which is not permitted by federal guidelines; and (3) a long list of improvements needed to qualify remains undone.

Then there is the long-term federal budget squeeze on funds for such projects.

Another falsehood: Airport boosters for years have reported more than 40,000 annual take-offs and landings from city airport. That number nearly tripled suddenly in the 1990s, when they sought to qualify for federal funding. That would be 110 operations every day of the year, including the winter, or seven operations every hour from 6 a.m. till 10 at night. We all know this is fiction! Meanwhile acoustic monitors count fewer than 15,000 operations per year. The Stelling Engineering report estimated only 11,000. Fuel sales at the airport are less than they were 30 years ago.

Proponents of the expansion state flatly that it would cost Kalispell taxpayers nothing and would be covered by fuel taxes paid by the fliers. False again! First, fuel taxes at City Airport are tiny. Second, the city is required to purchase land at substantial cost for the expanded airport while thereby removing property from the tax rolls. The city must remove the KGEZ radio towers before applying for funding. Even given federal support, Kalispell is required to pay 10 percent of the project’s costs, or close to $1.6 million. The real danger, however, is that the city initiates the expansion and federal funds don’t materialize, leaving us, after wasting much money, with an unfinished project we cannot afford.

There is not enough space to discuss all the falsehoods used to justify this project. Suffice it to say that we don’t need the expansion and can’t afford it. Vote FOR REPEAL of the City Council’s approval of this project. Keep the airport small and make it pay its way!

Bill Cox is a resident of Kalispell.