City of Sioux Falls considers $5M loan for airport expansion

The city of Sioux Falls will consider whether to loan the Sioux Falls Airport Authority $5 million to support its proposed concourse expansion at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.

The money would come from the city’s general operating reserve fund, which has grown in recent years to more than the city typically holds on hand.

The money would be provided as a loan as long as the authority receives approval to issue airport revenue bonds to finance the terminal project and as long as the state of South Dakota also provides at least $5 million in a loan, grant or subsidy.

The airport is proposing to build at least four gates to expand the seven-gate terminal, allowing it to meet demand for air travel and remain competitive in attracting air service.

Sioux Falls City Councilors Rich Merkouris and Richard Thomason are co-sponsoring the proposal.

“The airport is a huge economic driver,” Thomason said “We as a city have never helped with the airport other than given land, and in order to get our expansion to a point where we can have more airlines, more flights … it’s time for us to step up and give this loan to the airport.”

The loan “would really authorize us to go have those formal conversations with the state and the federal (governments) because we can say together this is a team effort,” Merkouris said. “For us to build a coalition of support … it’s really important it’s federal, state and local.”

The Sioux Falls City Council is scheduled to vote on it July 15. If approved, the city attorney’s office would work with the Airport Authority on the terms of the agreement, including repayment.

Airport board votes to move forward with pared-down concourse expansion

The post City of Sioux Falls considers $5M loan for airport expansion appeared first on SiouxFalls.Business.