Airport budget9/5/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() (Yes, the airport, which in many ways is really like a small town, has its own police force.) There are also increases in expenses related to contributions to the retirement funds for the airport’s Police Department. Most of that has to do with an increase in custodial services that PTIA is contracting out rather than getting in-house. Salary and wage increases make up $548,000 of that number – mainly due to budgeting for new positions and annual raises. In the new fiscal year, those are increasing by $759,000. ![]() The new budget reflects an increase of 7.2 percent in expenses over the 2022-2023 fiscal budget. That’s all well and good, however, all that activity at the airport, and other factors, are raising the cost of running the place – and those increases are showing up in the newly adopted 2023-2024 fiscal year budget for PTIA. PTIA has been doing great things for the community in recent years – bringing in high-profile companies to the new aviation megasite, slowly but steadily adding passengers and routes, and increasing the national attention on Greensboro and its very convenient airport. It is important to keep in mind that the project relies on public dollars paid by travelers at Bush Intercontinental.Ĭopyright 2023 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.Anyone who’s been to the grocery store or bought concert tickets in the last couple of years has noticed that the prices of things are going up – and that’s also something that officials running Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) are finding out as they attempt to run that giant operation. However, an HAS spokesman says a “phased airline relocation” will begin in December 2024 but it will not be completed until the spring of 2025.īrown said he is concerned the budget will climb again and the real savings will not be known until the project is fully completed. “If the projection was to save $500M, we should have saved $500M,” said Brown.Īfter several delays, the project was set to be completed by the end of 2024. The city’s financial watchdog has concerns over the loss of $230 million in savings. “We’re trending in the wrong direction,” said Chris Brown. ![]() We took our findings to the Houston controller. On Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for Diaz said the director “misspoke.” “I remember this being a lot less expensive than $1.3,” Martin said. Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Martin made it a point to question Diaz on his numbers. “It was 2019 that we established the budget, this new budget at $1.3 billion,” said Diaz. The director referenced the number multiple times. When Diaz went before the city’s Economic Development Committee last month, he made it clear, “The original budget was $1.3 billion.” The $230 million dollar increase is the result of rising costs in recent years, according to the airport. However, nearly a quarter-of-billion dollars in savings are now gone. “Instead of it being $1.7 billion in costs, it is now $1.2 billion,” Turner said. The increase came after the mayor changed the plans, saving Houstonians $500 million after finances had spiraled. Mayor Turner also was proud of the fact that an initial budget in the neighborhood of $700 to $900 million announced before he entered office in 2014 was slightly over $1.2 billion. It was back in the fall of 2018 that KPRC 2 Investigates first revealed the roller coaster budget was at $1.2 billion, according to Houston Airports System Director Mario Diaz and Mayor Sylvester Turner.Īt the time, Director Diaz tried to make the point very clearly as to where his budget was following a State of the Airports address: “Get the facts straight, get it straight and then we have reduced it $1.2 billion, saving $500 million dollars.” HOUSTON – There are more problems with the budget at George Bush Intercontinental Airport surrounding the Mickey Leland International Terminal Redevelopment Project- it’s soaring once again.Īccording to airport records, the new budget stands at $1.43 billion. ![]()
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