Foley: Bill in Congress would leave D.M. airport project searching for cash

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Des Moines airport chief Kevin Foley has said more forcefully that it would be difficult at best to put together the financing for a nearly half-billion-dollar overhaul of Des Moines International Airport, including a new terminal, if Congress didn’t give airports the opportunity to raise a specific fee on tickets. 

Airports have long proposed that Congress raise the passenger facility charge cap to $8.50 per flight segment from $4.50, the cap since 2000. The fee is charged per flight segment with a maximum of two fees charged on a one-way trip or four on a round trip, for a maximum of $18 total. 

That money could help pay for improvements, and, importantly, could be used to back bonds. 

But with an Oct. 1 expiration of the Federal Aviation Administration’s funding bill looming, Congress is looking at a bill, H.R. 302, that not only leaves a key airport infrastructure spending account flat through 2023, but also leaves the $4.50 limit on passenger facility charges.

Foley had expressed hope that when President Donald Trump supported greater spending on the nation’s infrastructure, including airports, after he took office, that the reauthorization bill might show increases in charges. 

There’s no sign of that yet.

Continue reading to learn how the situation will affect the airport. Read more

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