Tennessee Airports Proposed to Get $95 Million in State Funding in Upcoming Budget

by Jon Styf

 

Tennessee’s airports are proposed to get $82.5 million in direct state funding with a projected additional $13 million from the state’s Transportation Equity Fund in Gov. Bill Lee’s budget proposal.

That includes $59.5 million in recurring budget along with a proposed $23 million in one-time funding.

Tennessee Association of Air Carrier Airports President Doug Kreulen told the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee on Wednesday morning that will put the airports at nearly the $95.7 million they had requested for this fiscal year.

“That’s what we’re hoping when we finish the budget process,” Kreulen said to the committee.

Last year, the airports received $83 million in funding.

That funding is up from $37 million it requested in fiscal year 2022 but below the $125 million it expects to request two years ago. That’s because the main mechanism for funding the airports, the aviation fuel tax, has been cut down to $1 million.

The first few iterations of the aviation fuel tax cap mainly benefitted FedEx, the only company at the time that reached the cap when it was first installed after paying $45 million in annual aviation fuel tax.

The cut from a $5 million annual cap per company cost the state $2.6 million while the drop from a $3 million cap to $1 million cost the state $10.6 million annually in taxes.

Overall, Lee’s budget says the cap will help companies avoid paying an estimated $39.6 million in aviation fuel taxes next fiscal year.

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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
Photo “Nashville International Airport” by Nashville International Airport.