St. Joseph City Commissioners Monday night will take up the issue of placing a renewal millage on the August ballot to continue critical funding for Southwest Michigan Regional Airport. The city's appointed representative to the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport Authority Board, Andrew Meyer will make a brief presentation to the city after he and his fellow representatives on the board voted unanimously to seek the millage renewal on the August 2, 2016 ballot.
The current Airport Authority millage is set to expire at the end of its ten year approval period, December 31, 2016. City Manager John Hodgson has informed the commission that July of this year is the final year that the city may levy the airport millage without a vote of the electorate, so they will need to authorize placement on the August ballot the original levy of 0.25 mills if they wish to continue support of the airport. The original millage was approved by St. Joseph voters in 1997 and successfully voted to renew it in 2006 as well.
The 0.25 mill renewal would be equal to $25 for each $100,000 taxable value of a home. It seeks renewal for 10 years to 2026.
Friends of the Airport, a volunteer group that has worked on previous millage renewals has joined efforts with airport administrators to identify four key essentials that the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport provides including:
- Health & Safety — Lakeland Health and other medical providers use the airport for organ transplant and emergency air transport. The U.S. Coast Guard uses the airport for search & rescue and refueling during extended searches, as well as for disaster response.
- An Anchor for Existing Business — The airport helps retain, expand and recruit new businesses. More than 150 companies fly into the airport to conduct business with area companies that create jobs, pay taxes and add to our area's commercial viability.
- An Attraction for New Business Investment — The airport helps grow the community through job creation efforts. Having an airport provides a competitive edge in the site selection process. In fact, only two Fortune 250 companies have corporate headquarters in communities that are not served by a local airport.
- A Benefit to Local Residents — More than 75 people are directly employed by the airport, creating indirect employment of 156 people. UPS regularly uses the airport for delivery of packages and goods. It is regularly used to stage events like Lest We Forget and others. Plus, 420,000 gallons of jet and aviation fuel sale are generated there annually, providing upwards of $65,000 in sales tax revenue on fuel sales alone.
Southwest Michigan Regional Airport is one of only 32 statewide with a full instrument landing system, making it one of the safest, and the airport contributed more than $30-million to the local economy in 2014.
Over $34-million was invested at the airport in the last 15-years, of which more than 95-percent was from state and federal resources. The millage provided operating support to keep the valuable asset of the airport viable.
A number of other local municipalities will be taking up similar requests in the coming weeks at their own governmental meetings.
