We’ve seen the planes taking off and landing at Winston Field. When most of us think of airports we think of those planes and maybe runways. But most of us spend very little time thinking about where those planes are stored.
After many delays, construction has finally begun on a new hangar at the county’s airport, and with it comes many possibilities. Depending on how commissioners vote in the future, the hangar could be a revenue generator for Scurry County, housing airplanes for individual airplane owners. Another use would be to house a new business and its planes and other equipment.
According to a report from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), airports generate revenue primarily through four revenue streams — land, terminal and office leases, hangar leases, tie-down and ramp fees and fuel sales.
According to the county’s 2015 financial audit, even though the airport had revenues of more than $218,000, its loss was more than $245,000.
“Operating revenue results from hangar rental charges and the sale of fuel and oil. The county transferred $188,773 in cash during 2015 to Scurry County Airport (Winston Field) to cover operating expenses of $370,298 incurred in 2015,” the audit stated.
While it does generate revenues, the airport is not self-sustaining and the addition of a new hangar would be one step toward balancing its books.
“For many airports, hangar leases offer an excellent source of steady revenue generation. Hangar rental rates can vary by size and type of hangar such as large hangars, single engine T-hangars, twin engine T-hangars and large twin engine T-hangars. The more hangars at your airport, the more potential for revenue generation,” the NCTCOG report stated.
It follows that the more rented hangars you have, the more your other facilities will also get used and the more fuel you’ll sell. All that means more cash flow for the airport and the county, and I think we can all agree that would be a positive step.
But it’s not just a theory, hangars are proven revenue generators. An article from AviationPros highlighted several medium and small airports near Memphis, Tenn. Mark Fidler manages one of them, the Fayette County Airport near Somerville. The airport has a single 5,000-foot runway that can handle private jets.
The airport recently received a $600,000 state grant to build 40 T-hangars. Fidler said they were all leased and that he has a waiting list for T-hangars.
As Scurry County has taken on the burden of sustaining important programs that improve residents’ quality of life, those programs often bring with them sizeable, ongoing operational expenses. While no building is ever going to be totally maintenance free, Scurry County commissioners, by voting to lease the hangar, would generate cash flow without committing to a major recurring expense.
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Kudos to all the early voters who turned out this week as well as the folks with the county clerk’s office who ran a pretty smooth operation.
Despite rumors to the contrary, there were no reported incidents of mis-voted ballots or candidates being changed here in Scurry County. I read about a couple of problems around the state, but think those can be largely explained away with causes related to voter error and not to a rigged system.
As I reminded more than one person this week, the local election is run by a Republican county clerk in a county of Republicans. The election is overseen by the Texas Secretary of State, who was appointed by our very Republican governor.
The chances for irregularities here are very, very slim at best — and I would be comfortable saying they are not happening at our polling place at all.
Thank you to everyone who voted early this week. Hopefully next week the number of early votes will double the first week’s total.
And then on Election Day, I hope those numbers double again.
Regardless of who you choose to vote for, or vote against, just vote.
Bill Crist is the publisher of the Snyder Daily News. Comments about his column may be emailed to publisher@snyderdailynews.com.