Why the airport should not be privatized

The county executive’s recent budget proposal calls for exploring options on how to privatize Mitchell Airport in order to produce additional income for Milwaukee County. Walker claims a private entity could pay as much as $1 billion for the right to run the airport for the next 99 years. It sounds like it could be a pretty good idea on paper, but there are a lot of hiccups in his logic.

The idea of privatization is not the fix-all as some claim it to be. In fact, it can end up being just the opposite years down the road. This is because the basic function of private enterprise is to make money whereas the basic function of county government is to provide the services that private industry cannot or will not provide: free and public parks, the sheriff’s department, and a low-cost airport. If we went forward with a $1 billion deal with a private firm, they would expect to make much more than that out of the deal. Where would all that extra money be generated? It would likely come from increased parking fees, increased fees on the airlines, and more passenger surcharges. Basically, it would all have to come from those who travel through Mitchell. One of the big reasons Mitchell has set passenger records during the last 16 months is that it is extremely affordable for both airlines and passengers.

What do we get by keeping the airport under county control? We continue to keep user fees in check, and if we did decide to raise them, the funds would all go right back into the airport. Mitchell International is entirely self-sufficient and uses no property tax dollars to operate. Mitchell is also currently more responsive to the people. When a resident has a complaint, they can call me and get results. If it were under corporate control, a lawsuit would likely be required to get results.

If there are companies willing to pay $1 billion for our airport, I would suggest that we take a closer look at what we can do to make up that difference ourselves before letting those extra funds out the door to a private company. That’s why, when it comes time for me to vote on the 2009 county budget, I will ground the county executive’s proposal to privatize Mitchell International Airport.

Chris Larson is supervisor of Milwaukee County’s 14th District, which encompasses southern parts of Bay View, the airport, and other parts of Milwaukee’s southeast side. He can be reached at chris.larson@milwcnty.com or (414) 278-4252.