With a name like Scott you can’t be all bad. I wanted to thank you for your message on Jetwhine about Iowa airports receiving FAA funds. The Des Moines news papers should have someone on staff that can review general aviation news content. I am President of EAA Chapter 1452 and will pass your words on to our Iowa members.
Scott Olson, The Online Barnstormer

User fees are another way to fund this, but given that the government is all about the bureaucracy, how high will the fees have to be to pay all of the papershufflers who will administer it. Equally important, how will the indrect users, from people who ship and receive overnight packages to life flights, make their contributions?

There’s no denying that we all get what we pay for, and the question is who shall pay, and who shall benefit? What concerns me most is American’s growing short-sightedness. Our infrastructure is crumbling due to neglect, and when it comes to airports, an unequitiable funding structure will only exacerbate this problem.

The final question relating to direct participation taxation or user fees is this: What will happen to airports we all benefit from when, because of unfair taxation or fees, there are insufficient direct users to charge?

Sounds like what-you-pay-is-what-you-get (WYPIWYG, wippy-wig?)… so why the hubbub about user fees?

Thanks for featuring this article. Iowa has a very unique community, and a fairly active aviation presence. I must admit that I missed this article, but it is good to see the discussions taking place. Thanks for sharing

John