Stan Cramer, assuming his deal with the airport goes through this week, must be sitting pretty, and the airport is two for two, losses, that is.
They have lost their bid to steal Stan’s business by eminent domain, and they appear also to have lost their suit to stop the local school district from charging them a tax on their parking. Read the story, here.
The logic goes like this. All businesses in the area pay property taxes and that property tax, or a portion of it, goes to the school district. However the airport pays no property taxes and takes up a lot of land and generates a lot a money but its all outside the school’s ability to tax. So the parking tax is a way to get around that little issue.
From Stan’s point of view it has to be great. He pays taxes on his property located next to the airport, and has to compete with them for cars to park in his off airport lot. He is obviously at a pricing disadvantage, since the airport parks cars and doesn’t pay any tax, but he does.
Of course the airport won’t eat the tax, they will pass it along to their patrons. Fine. Stan has to do that now, and the airport will be forced to compete in the real world, not the government world.
Ah, for the level playing field.
JVH
