1. We propose that a New Jersey Aviation Commission or Department of Aviation be created as a separate entity from the NJ Department of Transportation. Remove the administration of aviation from an unresponsive political bureaucracy. Forming an independent State aviation authority is not unprecedented. Most states have gone to independent aviation administration structures. Aviation should be run by aviation professionals or at least by advocates who understand the critical need to promote aviation and preserve public airports.
After Jessica DuBrow was killed, Congress took aviation promotion away from FAA - the States MUST do it. Presently NJDOT has no incentive or reason to advocate for aviation. A “mass transit” mentality cannot begin to understand the freedom or possibilities of general aviation which, by its very nature, serves an elite. That elite is composed of the business professionals that make our economy work. The way things stand, there appears to be little sympathy for or understanding of aviation’s problems.
2. Institute tax relief for public use portions of airports. On one hand airport operators have limited opportunities to earn income from their property - fuel sales, hangar rent, flight instruction and possibly aircraft sales. However, unless a large part of the airport is in agricultural use and is taxed at the 15% farm rate of assessed value, airports are taxed at their “highest and best” development potential at New Jersey’s excessive property tax rates.
Airports are available to their communities for emergency services like aerial fire control and medivac. The public they serve is not just air travelers. At a bare minimum, there should be no property taxes assessed or paid on those public use portions of an airport - runways, taxiways, terminal buildings and ramps. Airport owners will be relieved of a significant cost burden while the revenue loss to municipalities will be virtually nil.
3. Develop a procedure and mechanism to make direct application to FAA for airport modernization funds outside of the Federal block grant mechanism which is administered by the State. South Jersey Regional, Central Jersey Regional and Camden County are all valid candidates for improvement. The current bureaucracy seems incapable of recognizing their critical importance and allocating sufficient funding to preserve and improve them. At some level, FAA really IS there to help. Word is out from Transportation Secretary Norman Minetta that we need more pavement. We have a rare golden opportunity to make good on that realization.
4. Expand capital improvement funding through the State Transportation Trust Fund in order to bring all NJ airports into compliance with applicable FAA safety requirements. Just as highways have been improved to accommodate larger and faster cars and trucks, our airports will have to be improved to meet the more demanding operating requirements of new aircraft designs. Cubs, Aeroncas and Cessna 140's gave way to Bonanzas and Aztecs. Bonanzas and Aztecs to Malibus and Citation Jets. New and vastly more efficient aircraft like the Eclipse will soon be available. They will be that much more useful to business operators. They will be whisper quiet but their aerodynamic characteristics dictate that they land fast and they land long. If New Jersey is to accommodate these far ranging business tools, the State must build the proper facilities to receive them
5. Encourage the State to secure and exercise a right of first refusal or option to purchase in the event that any public use airport owner seeks to change its use. A number of New Jersey airports are threatened with immediate closure. A mechanism to give the State prior acquisition authority should be part of any agreement to pay for airport improvements with State funds. It will cost airport owners very little to commit to keeping their facilities open.
6. Because of legislation passed in prior years, it is possible to use State funds for loans to airport businesses to make investments in facilities which will generate a profit (like the hangars that we have needed for years). Make the loan money available. Invest in the airports.
7. Encourage siting of fire, emergency services and compatible municipal functions at or adjacent to airports. It is all too evident that residences and schools built next to airports and beyond runway end zones cause problems. When considering the development of open space near airports, put something there that is compatible with the airport. For that matter, any open space near airport approach paths and adjacent to airports should be zoned for a use that will not compromise the airport, i.e. as commercial or industrial.
8. Set aside a pot of money within the Transportation Trust Fund for the outright purchase of airports or airport development rights pursuant to recently passed Legislation. The $2.5 million which Governor Whitman reserved is a drop in the bucket compared to what will be needed. However the intent of the Legislature in approving this bill is clear. Save the airports. Guaranteed fundingbecomes even more important in light of projected budget shortfalls.
9. Incorporate the State Aviation System Plan currently being revised into the State Development and Redevelopment Plan. There should be a common sense understanding of the incompatibility of homes and airports and that reality should be reflected in the State plan.
10. Develop a commitment to promote aviation within the New Jersey Commerce Commission and the business community. Business users can and should be our strongest advocates. Recreational flying is important, however so are canoeing and golf. Recreational flyers have no reason to be ashamed of their avocation. However recreational flying doesn’t contribute any where near as much to the State economy as business aviation.
People whose time is valuable and stuff that has a high time value is what General Aviation serves. Business is our natural advocate. Business interests and the organizations that represent them would promote aviation if they knew how close the system is to collapse and how necessary the benefits provided to them by general aviation are. Incidently, in a recent study it was determined that most of the folks who use corporate jets were the people who get things done - the middle managers and technicians - NOT top level executives.
11. Encourage Counties to create airport authorities. Our system of privately owned public use airports is changing as the private airport owners advance in age. There must be a sensible procedure for transferring airports into public ownership as they become available for sale. Owning and administering airports at the County level is most logical because airports serve regional interests. To maximize the efficiency of County owned facilities, County ownership should be coupled with civilian oversight in the form of advisory boards composed of local residents, pilots and commercial users of the facilities. Neighbors of airports should certainly have a say in how their local economic engine is managed.
