Title
Approval of Budget Revision 2018-03 in the Amount of $50,000 for Support of the City of Santa Fe to Help Develop Regional Airline Service.
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve budget revision 2018-03 as attached.
County Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council approve the budget revision as requested.
Body
The City of Santa Fe has received $700,000 in Federal and State Grants to promote the Santa Fe Municipal Airport and regional airline service. They are seeking partners to assist with the grant matching requirements and have requested that the County contribute $50,000. The attached budget revision, if approved, would provide funding authorization for this contribution.
The benefits for the County for supporting the City of Santa Fe include:
1. Access to commercial air service critical to local economic well-being (businesses and tourism)
2. Santa Fe Regional Airport is closest commercial airport to the community of Los Alamos
3. Although Santa Fe Regional Airport is currently served by two airlines with three non-stop destinations, the effort by regional partners is working to expand air service by adding destinations, more airlines, and improving the frequency of flights
4. In addition to support from the County of Los Alamos, the partnership includes the City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, Town of Taos, Taos Ski Valley, Angel Fire, and a number of other individuals and businesses
5. The Northern NM Air Alliance, which is providing marketing support, has already experienced success in starting new daily non-stop service to Phoenix and introducing larger aircraft to the Dallas route
Robust and expanding regional airline service out of Santa Fe is expected to help support our County's economic development initiatives.
Alternatives
Council could choose to not approve the budget r...
Click here for full text