St. Cloud Regional Airport Reports Growth, Warns of Budget Shortfall Amid Equipment Needs

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Regional Airport updated the city council on improvements since forming a regional authority and warned of looming financial challenges.

During Monday’s meeting, Airport Director Bill Towle highlighted the facility’s $50 million economic impact, including giving more than 44,000 passengers a ride in 2024, a 19% increase from the previous year. “The airport is a success story, and the airport’s healthy, vibrant, doing great, lots of growth going on out there.”

The SCRA saw 43,350 takeoffs and landings between cargo, commercial flights, military, medical and private planes in 2024. A new hangar opened last year to store more personal aircraft, with plans in the works for a second. The airport has also partnered with St. Cloud Technical and Community College to launch an airport mechanics program.

Despite that success, the airport’s $2 million budget is in the red by about $100,000. Towle explained what is going to drive that debt to grow. “The biggest thing is equipment replacement. That’s probably what’s going to drive the biggest deficit spending that we’ve got coming up.”

The airport has four broom/blower snow-removing trucks, which were bought 20 years ago, thanks to federal aid, and need to be replaced. Each truck is $750,000. Towle says if the airport can’t get more financing from other sources, they may need to ask for public help. “As we’re moving forward, potentially a tax levy at some point. [I] don’t know exactly what that looks like.”

He says they’re trying to turn over every rock to generate revenue to balance the budget, but they may still come up short. The airport has already increased the cost for parking and hangar fees as a way to help close the gap.

The city owned the airport until January 1st, 2022, when the airport authority was formed. The airport authority includes two members appointed from Stearns, Benton and Sherburne County, two from St. Cloud, and an at-large seat.

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