Supervisors to consider hiking fees

Deirdre Newman

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Passengers at the airport may soon have to pack

more cash into their wallets to cover parking and other expenses.The

Board of Supervisors will decide today on whether to impose moderate fee

hikes as a way to counteract the airport’s financial losses since the

Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The fee hikes are necessary to keep the airport running safely while

remaining financially healthy, said Alan Murphy, the airport’s director.

The rate hikes would affect public parking, parking permits, county

hangar space and ground transportation.

The issue had been deferred since December to enable airport officials

to apply for grant funding for security-related projects and to consider

the amount of flights for each airline.

The airport has applied for about $9.5 million in grant funding while

the number of flights are similar to those in previous years, said

airport spokeswoman Ann McCarley.

While the board originally had three options to choose from -- the

status quo, a moderate rate increase and a more severe fee hike -- the

higher increase was deemed unnecessary to meet the airports’ essential

safety and operational needs.

So the board will now consider only the moderate rate hike, which

would increase public parking in the terminal form $1 per hour or $11 per

day to $1 per hour or $17 per day.

The net loss for the fiscal year has also been revised. In December,

officials estimated a loss of about $10 million. Now it looks closer to

$4.5 million because passenger levels didn’t drop as much as previously

predicted, the airport changed the way it calculates revenue and Measure

W passed. Originally, county officials expected to spend more money

toward the development of an international airport at the former El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station.

If the rate increases are approved, however, officials are projecting

a net loss of only about $2.9 million.

If approved, the increases will take effect in April. In December, a

majority of supervisors postponed a decision on the hikes on a familiar

3-2 airport-issue vote.

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .