Colorado’s 74 airport managers will usher in the holiday season by receiving a letter detailing the fiscal hole they face in 2015 and the plan to dig them out of it.
The letter — approved Tuesday by the Colorado Aeronautical Board — will go out almost immediately. It explains the reason behind the in the Colorado Discretionary Grant Program.
The annual grants fund critical improvements at the state’s public-use airports, including runway repairs and expansions along with other safety projects.
The state originally planned to have $15 million in the grant program to give out next year. But because of faulty revenue forecasts, only $3 million will be available.
Airports were told of the cut this month on the eve of submitting their grant applications to the state.
The letter tells the airport managers that only grants that match FAA grants will be approved. David Gordon, director of the Colorado Division of Aeronautics, also apologized for the division’s mistakes.
“The timing is incredibly unfortunate: and again, we apologize that this situation has placed you in very difficult positions with your communities and stakeholders as you complete your budget and planning cycles,” Gordon says.
Officials say a rapid fall in jet fuel prices is the primary culprit behind the division’s woes. Revenue from fuel sales funds the grant program.
Future projections don’t offer much relief, Gordon said.
“Our ability to recover from this fiscal situation has been further complicated by the prediction of a continued decline in fuel prices,” he said.
An ad hoc advisory group, which includes financial experts from the state Department of Transportation, is being formed to help deal with the funding setback.
The aeronautical board voted Tuesday to create the eight-member group. Its task is to set up ways to better monitor the grant program and offer solutions to now-cash-strapped airports, said Lorie Hinton, president of the Colorado Airport Operators Association.
“We want to come up with a solution on how to deal with what happened and to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Hinton said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
