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DURHAM -- The Durham legislator who leads the N.C. House's key tax-writing committee says he's willing to go to bat for the county to help it gain a share of the sales taxes collected at RDU.
State Rep. Paul Luebke, a Democrat and senior chairman of the House Finance Committee, said this week revenue sharing at the airport "is certainly something that the Durham delegation can look into" when the General Assembly convenes next year.
Luebke added that he, like several Durham county commissioners, believes the county has "a good case" because it's a co-owner of the international airport.
Sales-tax revenue from RDU's shops, restaurants and other support operations now flows entirely to governments in Wake County, thanks to the airport's location within Wake.
Existing state law doesn't provide for any split-up of revenue based on ownership.
That state of affairs has recently produced grumbling among local officials, particularly from County Commissioners Joe Bowser, Becky Heron and Ellen Reckhow. They've prodded administrators to study the issue.
"I want the public in Durham to have a slice of the pie at the airport," Bowser said.
"Joe is exactly right," Heron added. "We need to share and share alike."
Legally speaking, RDU is run by an airport authority, rather than directly by local governments. Durham's city and county governments each appoint two board members. Wake County also appoints two, as does the city of Raleigh.
The four governments each contribute $12,500 a year to the airport's budget. The amount was set before World War II and has never changed, rendering it "a negligible sum" today in comparison with the facility's $111.4 million budget, Luebke said.
The governments also have to sign off on federal grants and a few other documents, matters that in actual practice the governments in Durham at least seldom linger over.
Reckhow and Bowser urged County Manager Mike Ruffin and his staff to look into how other states and regions with joint airports handle revenue sharing. The most prominent example commissioners identified other than RDU itself was Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Luebke acknowledged that Wake County legislators would likely "be asked" to fight to protect their community's revenue base.
Local governments in general have been pinched revenue-wise by the recession, and in addition to making budget cuts have been looking for ways to generate extra money that don't require a property-tax increase.
