Authority officials budgeted $56.3 million for its 2008 fiscal year operations, including costs associated with landing, fuel and parking fees, and car rental receipts at the terminal and around the airport.
A strong first half of the fiscal year, from July to December, resulted in increased funds from visitors parking at the airport and concessionaires in and around the terminals, officials said. The authority recorded $1.1 million in rental receipts for valet parking above what they originally budgeted for at the start of the fiscal year and nearly $270,000 more in parking fees at the airport’s structures, according to the report.
But the surge in first-half sales gave way to a slump in the fourth quarter of 2008 that resulted in a drop in most sectors of the airport’s economy.
The authority was able to stave off further losses due to its “conservative financial path,” including the flexibility to move forward with projects when cash was on hand and the freedom to delay plans as needed, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.
“The authority has had this conservative policy and approach to finances going back decades,” he said.
“It has never found itself in crisis mode.”
Airport officials did funnel about $27.3 million toward facility improvement projects this year, including a $14.8-million extension of Taxiway D, $1.1 million for a new baggage carousel in Terminal A and another $840,000 for security cameras throughout the airport, Gill said.
But officials thought the projects would need $33.8 million, leaving the authority with a $6.5- million surplus in its facility improvement budget.
