FLYING Magazine
Tenants and other users of Venice Municipal Airport (KVNC) in Florida could see higher T-hangar rents, tie-down fees, and fuel flowage fees as soon as January.
The Venice City Council on Tuesday heard a presentation about the proposed changes, which could see T-hangar rents increase between 53 and 147 percent depending on the size and type of hangar. Monthly tie-down rates could also rise from the current maximum of $240 to as high as $1,040 for the largest aircraft. Fuel flowage fees would jump from 5 cents to 10 cents per gallon.
According to the presentation, these rates and fees have not been “comprehensively adjusted” since 2007. The changes would take effect starting January 1 and be phased in over three years, after which rates would be adjusted annually using a flat-rate consumer price index average and reassessed every five years through a recurring market appraisal.
A public information officer for the Venice City Manager’s office told FLYING that an “Airport Rate and Fee” public workshop is scheduled for September 30 at city hall. The city council decided Tuesday to have staff bring input from that workshop to its next meeting on October 13 before deciding whether to approve the changes, which were proposed by the airport’s director following an appraisal.
Airport tenants in written correspondence to Venice Mayor Nick Pachota and the city council argued that the rate increases are unjustified in part because the hangars have been poorly maintained.
Airport Users Face Higher Rates
Venice Municipal Airport director Nicholas Dumas requested Tuesday’s city council meeting earlier in September to seek approval for the proposed changes.
Dumas wrote that the city previously commissioned an independent appraisal that examined comparable airports in the region, concluding that Venice’s T-hangar, shade hangar, tie-down, and fuel flowage rates are “well below market levels.” The appraisal screened 131 Florida public airports, excluding large hubs and those with under 30,000 annual operations.
“The proposed adjustments are intended to maintain market alignment, support the Airport Enterprise Fund, and further the City’s obligation to operate the Airport in a financially self-sustaining manner,” Dumas wrote.
The airport operates as an enterprise fund, meaning its expenses are paid through airport revenue and user fees rather than residents’ taxes.
In addition to raising T-hangar rents, the proposal would charge tie-down rates based on aircraft wingspan rather than engine size, as the airport has previously. For the smallest aircraft, the minimum monthly rate would be $120. Those with wingspans greater than 90 feet would face a monthly tie-down charge of $1,040. Daily rates would be 15 percent of the monthly rates.
The current maximum monthly tie-down rate is $240 for aircraft with three or more engines. The presentation argues that the new structure is a “fairer, market-standard measure.”
The city plans to give airport tenants notice and allow a 30-day period for written comments before the changes take effect.
Tenants Push Back
Per the presentation, Venice charges less than half of what comparable regional public airports charge for similar space, and it argues that maintaining its 2007 rates and fees would violate federal policy that requires the city to keep the airport “as financially self-sustaining as possible.”
“Below-market rates encourage speculative and non-active storage,” it reads. “Market rates ensure adequate funding for the infrastructure that serves active aviators.”
The new revenue would be legally restricted to the airport and go toward maintenance, security gates, resurfacing of taxiways and runways, and mitigation projects. The presentation does not say whether it would be used to improve, replace, or build new hangars.
One Florida resident wrote to council members that denying the proposed increases would constitute “reckless dereliction of duty by City Council.”
“The 19 years of rate increases that were never charged are essentially lost revenue that the airport will never recover,” they wrote.
Airport tenants disagreed. One person, who has rented a hangar at KVNC since 2008, said the increases are not justified because the airport has not adequately improved or maintained its T-hangars and discouraged construction of new private hangars. He worried the increases would price pilots out.
“Other airports have replaced weak sliding doors with stronger vertical bifold doors for wind protection, have updated lighting, rust mitigation and other aspects,” he wrote. “Most tenants at KVNC have bird poop and falling rust flakes on their aircraft every time the doors are opened.”
The person added that “there is no argument that we tenants are long overdue for rent increases” but said the airport director’s rationale is faulty and the increases are too high.
Another tenant similarly said the hangars have been poorly maintained and argued higher fees would deter pilots from using the airport.
“I might have to keep a car at KPGD, or fly into KSRQ [Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport] and Uber on the occasions when I must be in town,” he wrote.
The person also disagreed with the airport manager’s contention that below-market rates could be “deemed revenue diversion and jeopardize future FAA grant funding.” He argued that the FAA considers fair market value to be the “required floor for nonaeronautical use of airport property” and not the “mandated rent for an aircraft stored in a municipal T-hangar.”