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Montevideo-Chippewa County Airport
The Montevideo-Chippewa County Airport is jointly owned by the City of Montevideo and Chippewa County. An airport commission meets monthly and is responsible for a number of functions, including recommending a yearly budget, formulating policies and procedures for operation of the airport, and working with state and federal agencies. According to the joint powers agreement between the city and the county the airport commission may not incur obligations or enter into contracts. The airport commission does review any proposed agreements or contracts and make recommendations to the city and the county.
The city acts as manager and fiduciary agent for the airport on behalf of the city and county. Any employees are city employees and the airport is operated as a department of the city, under administration of the city manager. The city manager also undertakes general oversight of the airport manager. No capital expenditures can be made without approval of both the city council and the county board, and all expenditures over $10,000 are to be approved in advance by the city and county.
The budget is in two pieces. The first piece is the main budget which is reviewed and approved by all parties each year. Generally speaking, after all revenues are taken into account, the city and county, (at least this has been the case over the last few years), has had to spend only $4,000 to $8,000 per year to balance out the airport budget. This is possible because the airport gets revenue from its adjacent farm lands, and is reimbursed by the state for some of its yearly maintenance costs. In 2007 the airport took in about $25,000 on the farm leases (and paid about $8,000 in taxes). This revenue has continued to climb, and for 2012, $40,000 was budgeted (but we are going to actually receive closer to $55,000), with taxes likely in the $13,000 range. The city manager arranges for bids on the farm leases every two years, and they are reviewed and approved by the city council on behalf of the city and county.
The second piece of the budget is the expenses for capital projects at the airport. The cost to the city and county has varied, from about $5,000 per year to $25,000 per year. In 2012, the cost is estimated to be closer to $50,000 each because of a proposed $2.1 Million runway renovation project.
Steve Jones, city manager of Montevideo, has been working as a city manager for 24 years. He has a bachelors degree in Urban Affairs/Urban Planning from the University of Missouri, Kansas City and a Masters of Public Administration from Andrew Jackson University. He is an ICMA credentialed city manager and a certified floodplain manager.
During his 14 years as city manager of Montevideo, some key items Steve has worked on are upgrades to the city's infrastructure including the wastewater treatment plant and water plant, flood mitigation work including levee reconstruction and work on making Montevideo an All-American City. His favorite project was the Community Built Playground Project in Smith Park.
