Southern Illinois taxpayers spend $124.5M since 2002 to keep airport open

An underused airport close to Belleville, Illinois, has required native taxpayers to chip in $124.5 million since 2002 to maintain it working.

St. Clair County taxpayers had so as to add $5 million from different county sources to maintain MidAmerica St. Louis Airport open throughout 2021, based on a brand new audit. That brings the grand complete since 2002 to $124.5 million in fund transfers wanted to fill the airport’s deficits.

The $5 million subsidy was down from the $8.18 million wanted in 2020 and  $7 million wanted in 2019. Regardless of an almost $17.4 million enhance in revenues and an almost 50% enhance in passengers as air service recovered from the pandemic, taxpayers nonetheless wanted to fork over $5 million to maintain the airport solvent.

MidAmerica skilled extra development as a fuel station than an airport. The vast majority of new income got here from an $8.8 million surge in gas gross sales spurred by a particular Boeing mission to provide U.S. Navy drones and the passenger flight enhance.

Auditors said “curiosity continues to be a significant expense of the Airport” and totaled $3.2 million in 2021. The curiosity is on debt from constructing the airport.

MidAmerica received’t totally repay its building debt till 2045 as a result of St. Clair County leaders in 2015 refinanced the remaining $40 million and stretched out compensation. That transfer greater than doubled taxpayers’ debt burden to $88 million.

Airport bills elevated by almost $4.7 million final yr.

The airport was constructed for $300 million in 1995 to supply passenger and cargo service in addition to serve neighboring Scott Air Pressure Base with an extended runway than the parallel base runway. It additionally has cargo operations, a company jet renovation and upkeep enterprise and a Boeing manufacturing facility. Boeing is spending $200 million so it could possibly produce the Navy drones at MidAmerica, anticipated to create a whole bunch of jobs.

Allegiant Air is the only airline working on the airport on the outskirts of Belleville, Illinois. It presently affords 12 locations, down from 13 in 2021 and solely seven the yr earlier than. There have been 161,562 folks final yr who bought on or off a aircraft on the airport, up from 108,765 in 2020 throughout the pandemic, based on Federal Aviation Administration knowledge.

Sources flowing to a mission unable to exist with out drawing $5 million from different county wants ought to concern St. Clair County owners. They need to additionally ask how bailing out the airport is affecting their property taxes and residential values, particularly the worth of a rural dwelling the place they not often see a sheriff’s deputy on patrol as a result of that cash is preserving an airport staffed.

Because the Nice Recession, St. Clair County dwelling values fell by 23% after adjusting for inflation, based on knowledge from the Bureau of Financial Evaluation. Additionally from 2007-2017, Illinois Division of Income knowledge exhibits property tax payments in St. Clair County grew 5%, after adjusting for inflation.

Shortly after the airport opened in 1997, it was the topic of a phase on NBC Information’ “The Fleecing of America.” NBC returned in 2010 and once more in 2015 to search out the airport in unhappy form.

Within the 25 years because it opened, the airport has suffered a string of failed passenger carriers and unsuccessful makes an attempt to construct its cargo enterprise, incomes monikers such because the “Gateway to Nowhere” and “Glass Palace on the Prairie.”

Whereas the Boeing growth is a significant profit to southwestern Illinois, the query stays: “Why can’t MidAmerica Airport exist with out taxpayers bailing it out yearly?” After 25 years and $124.5 million in subsidies, taxpayers ought to push MidAmerica from the nest.