A committee of the Milwaukee County Board last week rejected county Executive Scott Walker’s plan to include $500,000 in the $1.4 billion 2009 budget to hire consultants to help craft a proposal to privatize Mitchell International Airport.
Board members who rejected the proposal in a 7-0 vote voiced complaints over the idea of leasing an asset so quickly and over their exclusion from talks over the proposed lease. Board members also said they don’t believe the lease would solve the county’s transit funding issues because it would take years to put the airport deal together.
Walker has said he believes the lease would raise $1 billion, with about $25 million going towards transit funding annually, thereby offsetting the need for a sales tax increase that will appear on the November ballot.
Chicago recently announced its acceptance of a $2.52 billion bid from a private group known as MIDCo to operate Midway Airport for 99 years. The City Council has signed off on the transaction, which still awaits federal approval.
Walker is opposed to the sales tax hike. The Milwaukee County Board earlier this month overrode his veto of the advisory ballot question, which asks whether the sales tax should be raised by one cent to fund transit projects and park improvements and provide property tax relief.
The county currently collects a 0.5% sales tax. The proposed hike would boost current collections of $65 million to nearly $195 million. Approval from Gov. Jim Doyle and the Wisconsin Legislature would also be needed.
If Milwaukee County were to pursue a lease of its airport, it would first have to reserve a spot with a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program that requires a majority of airlines operating at the facility to sign off on any deal — a task that proved difficult for Chicago.
