Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) really is very much like a local government onto itself – and just like cities and counties around the state this June, the airport has adopted a new budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year that begins on July 1.

For PTIA, the budgeted revenue for the coming fiscal year is increasing by 18 percent over the fiscal 2022-2023 budget.

The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority adopted the budget on a unanimous vote at the board’s Tuesday, June 26 meeting. The total revenue for the new budget is just under $41 million, with $34 million of that from operating revenue and $6.7 million from things like federal grants and investment income.

Here are some of the highlights from that new PTIA budget:

•Budgeted terminal revenue is 14 percent higher than was allocated in 2022- 2023. According to a report given to the authority, this is due to rate increases and increased revenue from the rental of the new jet bridge at the airport.

•The consumer services portion of the budget is up even more – nearly 20 percent – due to more money from rental car commissions and surcharges on those pricey meals and gifts you buy in the terminal.

•The airport raised the price of parking at the start of the year and the coming 12 months is expected to bring 45 percent more revenue than the current fiscal year as a result of a full year of revenue under the new parking rates.

•Not everything is up: The budgeted amount from landing and fuel fees is down 3.5 percent “due to a projected decrease in cargo carrier landed weights.” •According to the report provided to the board, “Cargo area rentals, fixed based operations, land and facility rentals and other revenue is up 13.9 percent as a result of expansion of leased space and lease revenue not previously budgeted. This additional revenue is offset by a decrease in budgeted valet revenue as the program has been discontinued.”

•Budgeted interest income from investments is 150 percent higher, reflecting an increase in the interest rates in the current economic environment.

•Expenses in the new budget are increasing $1.6 million – just over 7 percent – from the current 2022-2023 budget. That’s due largely to higher payouts for employee salaries, wages and benefits, including new positions and yearly raises.

•The airport has its own police department and, in the new fiscal year, there will be a $90,000 increase for that service. That’s due to a roughly half of a percentage point increase in benefits, mainly due to larger contributions to the Retirement Plan of the Authority.

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