Mitchell reports on improvements made at facility
The Aurora City Council approved the 2024-25 budget levy request from the Aurora Airport Authority last week, lowering the levy by half a mill point to 3.0 cents per $100 valuation.
Brett Mitchell, treasurer of the local airport authority, addressed the council briefly before the unanimous vote at the Aug. 27 meeting, reporting on improvements made during the past year. Earlier this spring and summer, work was completed on the taxi-way and ramp project at the airport, which Mitchell said was funded 90 percent with federal funds and 10 percent local resources. That he said is the second of two major projects in the past few years, the biggest of which involved replacement of the airport’s main runway.
Also during the past year, Mitchell said bi-fold doors on the hangars were replaced, several of which had been damaged by wind and were no longer protecting the airplanes and property inside the hangars. Mitchell said 10-year bonds were used in part to fund the long overdue project. Combining the airport’s expenses and bond payment, he reported total expenses for the coming year at $325,000.
After summarizing the airport’s revenue, which includes rent from large and small buildings on the property, as well as a small amount of aviation fuel sales, Mitchell said the airport will need $173,000 combined from the city and county to meet this year’s budget expenses. He noted that a request of $24,000 has already been made to the county board, though no response has been given.