This seems like a sensible approach for an airport that's hemorrhaging customers because it's too expensive for people to use:
Under the Traffic & Revenue Improvement Plan (TRIP) slated to effect by July 1, any existing carriers that increase the number of passengers between 5 and 20 percent could be reimbursed for various airport fees.
Currently, carriers pay more fees when they increase their traffic.
I've always thought government's approach to home and business improvement was similarly perverse. You improve your property, and your reward is to pay more in taxes? Why not give property owners a tax break if they make improvements? At least try it for a couple of years to see how the loss of tax revenue is balanced by all the work by and supplies ordered for contractors? At the very least, the appearance of the city would improve greatly.
Comments
There are some "passengers" who can't be lured back to FW International. See the post on the Indiana Parley weblog at: http://indianaparley.blogspot.com/2006/05/some-passengers-fort-wayne-airport.html
You make a good point Leo, about people who improve their property (guilty as charged on that count), only to reap the "benefits" of such improvements.
In my "blighted" part of Fort Wayne (Mayor's words...not mine), I (along with a handful of others) TRY to make my house and property as nice as is possible, given the *quality* of most of the others around the area who take it upon themselves to undo anything we TRY to accomplish. I cite the lawn trash, the driving across one's property, and the overall disrepair found with a lot of the other houses here (landlords take note...you've been *served*).
And what do *I* (we) get for my (our) troubles, money output and sweat equity?
I get a nice, healthy INCREASE in my property tax. Like those Geraniums out front jacked up my house's value 87%???? And changing the color of my front door caused my house to be REASSESSED at almost DOUBLE what it *used to be worth*???
I would just love to see me SELL this house for the assessed value of over $76K when I couldn't get barely HALF of that to begin with.
Now I must have missed a memo or two but since I'm not a featured candidate for any home improvement show on HGTV or the cover boy for Better Homes & Gardens, I'm just not seeing it happen.
Interestingly enough, the FWIA is one of over 30 entities that can levy HIGHER property taxes on *us*...amazing, hmm? Now I wonder what the FWIA can see (over four miles away) that I seem to be missing?
As to the *passengers* that can't come into FWIA...I would say we still have CARGO carriers. And before anyone gets bothered by this, please remember that our troops killed overseas come home in cargo transport aircraft (into Dover, DE...the ONLY place they bring in the deceased personnel, btw).
So forgive me if I view any "plan" that FWIA comes up with that will supposedly not cost *me* anything....In this case, I'm from Missouri....
SHOW ME.
Don't put *my* money where your (FWIA)mouth is....just put it BACK in my POCKET, please!
B.G.
A parallel situation exists with the taxes assessed on vehicles. The more valuable the vehicle, the higher the tax.
This situation caused my wife & I to delay the purchase of a new vehicle for two years, driving an absolute beater in that time. As long as the beater kept going, the tax savings was well worth it- it was more than two car payments difference!
How much did this boneheaded policy contribute to the demise of the automotive industry in Indiana? I suppose we'll never know for sure. In a better world, you might have thought that public policy in a state that was so dependent upon manufacturing and the auto industry would have *encouraged* the purchase of new automobiles, not discouraged it.
Oh well- Republicans and Democrats got to spend that tax money, and people lost jobs.