City proposes $700,000 interest-fund budget, includes $500,000 airport revenue guarantee

City Controller Beck presented ordinance CPO 202614 on April 14 to establish a budget for Fund 8501, the city’s interest-income account, proposing a $700,000 appropriation split between airport assistance and incidental charges.

Beck said $500,000 of the proposed budget would be allocated to the Gary Chicago airport as a city contribution toward a revenue guarantee to help attract commercial passenger service. Beck described a related resolution passed by the airport board committing $1 million to a revenue-guarantee program and said the city’s $500,000 would be its portion to entice carriers. "They will be contributing million dollars towards revenue guarantee. The city would then contribute 500,000 for revenue grantee in order to attract commercial passenger airlines," Beck said.

The controller explained the remaining $200,000 in the $700,000 budget would cover incidentals and unplanned expenses in the new fund. Beck characterized an $1.8 million revenue estimate for interest income as preliminary, saying the controller’s office and banks are still reviewing investment options and rates: "The 1.8 million that we have on the sources of revenue is an estimate... That is something that we are combing through right now."

A committee member asked which commercial carriers fit the stated threshold; staff said they had consulted airport consultants and that a mixture of larger and smaller regional aircraft had been discussed but did not provide operator names. The administration said it would return to the council before any commitment that exceeded the stated thresholds.

No vote was recorded during the presentation. The item remains under committee consideration.