The City Council is looking into raising rates on hangar rentals
at the Hollister Municipal Airport. Officials say added revenue
would fund improvements that could attract jet owners
– and possibly their businesses.
Hollister – The City Council is looking into raising rates on hangar rentals at the Hollister Municipal Airport. Officials say added revenue would fund improvements that could attract jet owners – and possibly their businesses.
But Ed Owen, president of the Experimental Aircraft Association, is concerned that the airport is trying to raise rates to push out locals and pull in well-heeled plane owners from Santa Clara County.
“Who should be served … business or local aviation?” he asked.
At the request of council members, Airport Manager Bill Gere reviewed the hangar rates – currently about $260 per month for about 1,000 square feet – and then compared them to the rates charged by similar airports as well as the cost of renting commercial storage space.
Currently it costs about 26 cents per square foot to rent a hangar at Hollister’s airport. The Watsonville airport charges 13 to 19 cents per square foot, and rents at Salinas’ airport start at about 20 cents per square foot.
Still, Gere said Hollister’s rates are not a reflection of what the space is worth.
“Almost unanimously airport mangers will attest that hangar rates are simply a reflection of the influence that the airport tenants … can bring to reduce rates from their fair market amount,” Gere states in his report.
Gere also collected rates from
several commercial storage facilities. The average rate for a 300-square-foot unit, according to his report, is twice what the Hollister Municipal Airport charges to rent a hangar. Gere anticipates sharing his findings with the full Council at its July 5 meeting.
“When he (Gere) gave me the rate, it just seemed like a very low number,” said Councilwoman Monica Johnson, who asked Gere to look into whether the rates could be increased.
“I support raising the rates,” Councilman Doug Emerson said. “They’re ridiculously low.”
Gere says the community would be served by a well-funded airport. “We work for the people of Hollister, not 74 people with hangars,” he said.
If the council agrees to raise hangar rental rates, the airport will be able to carry out much needed maintenance projects, such as building repair and road repavement, Gere said. “We’re not generating enough money to repair our buildings.”
Also, if the airport can get enough money it can build jet hangars that would attract owners of expensive corporate jets. That’s where the real benefit is, according to Gere.
“I think he’s right on,” Emerson said. “If we could bring in six or eight corporate jets … it creates a few jobs.”
But more substantial, according to Emerson, is the 1 percent personal property tax that the city would collect for each jet, which are priced in the millions of dollars. “It will bring influential people into Hollister,” Gere said. “It will attract business.”
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
