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Passenger Taxes for Airport Financing

To some degree the practice of imposing passenger taxes for aviation facilities is our own invention. We advocated the 5% travel tax as an airways user charge. It was agreed to. It has turned out to be such a moneymaker for the government, and so easy of administration, that we are now being literally swamped with proposals by anyone who wants money to impose an additional tax on our passengers, to be collected by the airlines. We must decide where this process is to stop or we will lose complete control over our prices. 
Here is the present picture. We already have the 5% ticket tax, which yields about $200 million a year, without complaint from our passengers. It goes to pay for the airways. We have a proposal from the Airport Operators Council to levy a tax on our passengers the proceeds of which would in large part go back to the airport at which the tax was collected. The Secretary of Transportation has advocated substantial "head taxes" for airport operators, and he does not seem to care whether they are federally or locally imposed. Senator Monroney's recent report on airports poses various alternatives and seems to lean toward passenger taxes designed to create an airport fund. There is some discussion in the Ways and Means Committee of increasing the present ticket tax from 5 to 10%, and utilizing the proceeds for the creation of a trust fund to be used for both airport and airways purposes. There is discussion in the Treasury of assessing international passengers a 5 or 10% tax, for purposes which at the moment are ill-defined. The legislature of the state of Virginia has under active consideration the imposition of a head tax on airline passengers, the proceeds of which would be devoted to financing little airports in the state. The city of Evansville, Indiana, is actively considering a locally imposed head tax for airport purposes. The city of Denver is considering a head tax to finance a rapid transit system from the city to the airport. Los Angeles recently considered a locally imposed head tax to finance the insulation of homes for sound abatement purposes. Newark is proposing a head tax for general fund purposes. The Governor of Ohio has suggested a head tax to support two major regional airports. 
Finally, we ourselves are considering the imposition of a passenger tax the proceeds of which would go to a federal corporation. The corporation would use these tax proceeds to support the financing of a very large fund which could be granted to airports for capital improvements. Our Airport Facilities Committee will consider this latter proposal at its meeting on February 12, and be prepared to make a recommendation to the Board of Directors with respect to it.