![]() In April, Dick noted, the council approved a new lease agreement for the company that runs through June 30, 2020. The most recent three-year contract was approved in April 2016. As part of the contract, the vendor also collects landing and aircraft parking fees on behalf of the Airport Department. That's how you keep your process neat and clean."ĪVFlight has been the fixed based operator for the airport since 2011. "You have contracts, they have to be looked at and approved by City Council. "I'm a firm believer, whether we like government or not, it's here and it's how we function. He added that he has learned the practices date back possibly two decades. The audit recommended that the Airport Department pursue annual or multi-year tenant leases with defined term limits obtain, update and retain leases and reviews of its revenue fee schedule "to determine if an increase in fees is appropriate" and document why any variance in rental amounts may have been granted.Įfforts are underway to change the long-held practices flagged in the audit, said Brad Dick, the city's group executive of infrastructure. About 16% have leases that originated between 19, the audit found.Īuditors also found that 7% of tenants don't have a rent amount listed and 14% are not paying the amount of rent listed in their agreements. About 72% of the tenant leases were available for review. The review determined 16 of 58 tenants - 28% - don't have leases. None of the lease agreements had documentation indicating that they were reviewed or approved by the City Council as required under Detroit's City Charter, the audit notes. It rents units, including hangars and bays. Rental rates have not been changed since 2006, the June 3 audit notes, and "leases may have been lost or misplaced" because some "are more than 30 years old." ![]() In an October 2017 pitch to land an Amazon headquarters, the Duggan administration touted its airport as an asset to support the Seattle-based retailer in “research, testing, aviation and other capacities.” Amazon later narrowed its list of finalist cities, eliminating Detroit from the running. The audit comes amid the city's multi-phase study to determine the best use of the cash-strapped airport that the city has propped up for the last several years through subsidies from Detroit's general fund. "Ultimately, deferring essential maintenance or asset replacement reduces the airport's ability to provide services and could threaten public health, safety and overall quality of life." "The lack of investment makes it increasingly difficult to sustain the asset in a condition necessary to provide expected service levels," according to the audit. The audit estimates the city is losing potentially more than $481,000 a year by failing to maintain the airport's units. "In addition, the Airport Department is not provided with any certainty as to how long the tenants will occupy the premises." "The Airport Department is not collecting the appropriate amount of revenue and no one is reviewing the amount of revenue collected, which reduces the amount of funds they have available for operating cost," the audit said. The June 3 review by the Office of the Auditor General also discovered that Coleman Young International Airport's hangars have broken down to the point that they "are causing a dangerous environment." There are four families of coyotes living on the property and birds have inhabited some of the hangars, "causing a bio-hazard" and "impacting the city's ability to rent these facilities to generate revenue," according to the audit.ĭetroit's Airport Department also has failed to obtain approval from Detroit's City Council for lease contracts, secure agreements for other tenants or maintain its assets. Detroit - A new audit of the city's financially troubled municipal airport documents decades of mishandled contracts and close to half-a-million dollars annually in revenue losses linked to the facility's disrepair.
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