During a meeting between local government officials and state legislators Tuesday, the question of how local cities could help fund revenue guarantees to airlines was addressed with two possible solutions—either new state legislation or creative use of an existing law.
In the meeting at the Blaine County Annex in Hailey, Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, Rep. Donna Pence, D-Gooding, and Michelle Stennett, sitting in for her husband, Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, listened to concerns over continuing airline service into Hailey's Friedman Memorial Airport.
Some local air service is provided through minimum-revenue guarantees, primarily from Sun Valley Co. to Horizon Air. Carol Waller, executive director of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, said nearly half the airline seats that come into the Wood River Valley are a result of the agreement with Horizon Air, which provides direct service from Los Angeles and Seattle.
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The guarantee assures that the airline will make a certain amount of money regardless of the number of tickets sold. If that minimum is reached through ticket sales, no money is given to the airline.
Although a number of the cities in Blaine County have expressed interest in helping fund the guarantees, they face a hurdle in the form of an Idaho statute that doesn't allow cities to contribute money to private businesses.
"We're looking for a funding model from the private sector with possible support from the public sector," Waller said. "But we need legislation to allow cities to contribute."
Jaquet said Ketchum City Attorney Susan Buxton is looking into the constitutional differences that allow cities in Colorado to give money for guarantees, while those in Idaho cannot. As an example, Steamboat Springs spends more than $1 million on airline guarantees annually, half of which is paid by the resort and the remainder by a 2 percent lodging tax.
If new legislation is required, Jaquet said it would likely have to be created by mid-December in order to have it considered in the next legislative session, which begins in January.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
