SANDPOINT — During a special meeting, the Airport Advisory Board discussed several fee increases at the Sandpoint and Priest River airports that would only go into effect if approved by the board of county commissioners during a public hearing.  

The board recommends that county commissioners approve an adjusted lease rate of 45 cents/square foot for land close to the Sandpoint Airport runway, known as “executive row,” as opposed to 40 cents. The suggested increase would equal about $70,000 a year for a prime hangar lease. Other lots will vary between 40-45 cents depending on location.  

At the Priest River Airport, an increase to 30 cents/square foot per lot instead of the original 20 cents/square foot was recommended.  

Also suggested for approval is a land lease duration change, which is proposed as a one-term lease of 40 years, with an option to negotiate the lease for 50 years depending on the value of improvements the lessee makes. This would eliminate the current two-term structure of a 30-year initial term with an optional 20-year extension.  

All lease changes, if approved, would not go into effect for current lessees, only future ones.  

The board additionally suggested approving an increased tie-down fee, a fee that has never been adjusted, according to Schuck. A tie-down fee accounts for pilots parking their aircraft at an airport for any duration of time. The current fee sits at $6/night and $30/month and is proposed to be increased to $8/night and $80/month to account for inflation and limited space at both airports.  

According to Airports manager Dave Schuck, neither land lease durations nor tie-down fees had been adjusted during his 17 years with Bonner County.  

Other topics slated to be voted on for recommendation such as a landing fee proposal for the Sandpoint Airport and Priest River Airport hangar density discussions were pushed to October’s quarterly meeting.  

“90% of the cost of addressing safety concerns and improvement projects at our airports is paid for by the FAA Airport Improvement Program, which is funded by airport user fees in the form of airline passenger fees and aviation fuel sales tax. The state pitches in between 5% and 7.5% and the rest, 2.5% to 5%, comes from the county. The proposed increases to these airport user fees will help fund the county's portion of these project costs,” said Schuck.