Prices are getting crazy on some things these days and one thing Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen said to the Rhino Times this week was this: “Seven dollar mayonnaise! Mayonnaise is $7!”
And what’s true about mayonnaise is also true about airport terminal renovations: Piedmont Triad International Airport got the green light last week to move ahead with a massive terminal modernization project – and the borrowing got $25 million bigger before the Guilford County commissioners voted on it.
The commissioners unanimously approved the issuance of up to $300 million in airport revenue bonds by the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority at the board’s Thursday, Sept. 3 meeting.
The proposal had previously been presented to the commissioners as a bond issue of $275 million. However, an addendum to the Sept. 3 agenda amended the public hearing language and accompanying resolution, increasing the maximum amount to $300 million.
This ink was almost still wet on the last minute addition, so much so that Commissioner Pat Tillman pointed out that the paperwork he had before him, in one place, still had $275 million as the amount to be approved
PTI Executive Director Kevin Baker told the Rhino Times the increase was driven by the current construction market rather than a change in the scope of the project.
“We’re simply adjusting for a crazy bidding environment right now,” Baker wrote in an email. “Costs are up across the board, and we wanted to make sure we have it covered, in the event that we move forward at all.”
The good news is that that doesn’t mean the already debt-strapped Guilford County taxpayers are borrowing $300 million.
The bonds will be issued by the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority – not Guilford County – and the resolution approved by the commissioners specifically states that the bonds won’t constitute debt of Guilford County, won’t require a county tax levy and won’t count against the county’s debt limit or debt ratios.
The county agenda lists the budget impact succinctly: “NO COUNTY FUNDS REQUIRED.”
Instead, the bonds will be repaid from airport revenues.
During the public hearing, Commissioner Carly Cooke asked attorney Tom Lee of Womble Bond Dickinson what revenues would be used to repay the debt.
Lee said the airport has financed much of its infrastructure in similar fashion over the years and pointed to several sources of airport revenue that can be used to pay the bonds. Those include passenger facility charges, parking revenue, rental-car concession fees, landing fees, lease payments from airlines for gates and other airport facilities and rental payments from restaurants and other concessionaires.
Cooke followed up by confirming that county taxpayer dollars wouldn’t be used.
She said she thought the airport was doing a great job.
Commissioner Frankie Jones offered perhaps the strongest and animated defense of the size of the investment.
Jones said major public infrastructure such as PTI can’t expect to remain competitive without continued investment and he argued that delaying needed improvements would only make them more expensive in the future.
He also noted that the project isn’t simply cosmetic.
The bond proceeds can be used for renovation and modernization of the existing terminal and concourses, including the ticket lobby, Transportation Security Administration screening areas, baggage claim and concessions areas, along with related supporting improvements.
The money can also be used to pay interest on the bonds during the expected construction period, establish a debt-service reserve fund, pay for bond insurance and cover the expenses associated with selling and issuing the bonds.
That means the entire $300 million shouldn’t be viewed as the construction price of the terminal renovation itself.
At a public hearing one speaker spoke against the need for the renovations saying that sometimes you can go for a flight at PTI and the airport is like a ghost town. That’s true at certain times however passenger stats over the last decade show the traffic was growing steadily until Covid and, since then the airport is nearly back to those pre-Covid numbers.
The county resolution states that the bond proceeds will be used together with other available funds.
The commissioners’ approval was required primarily to satisfy federal tax-law requirements. The resolution cites Section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, which requires the local governmental approval associated with this type of tax-exempt financing.
The Airport Authority – rather than county government – will issue and repay the bonds.
The terminal modernization project has been in the works for years.
In May 2024, the Airport Authority approved a contract with Lindsey Architecture PC for architectural and engineering design work on the Terminal Modernization Project.
At the time, Baker told the Rhino Times that the goal wasn’t simply to make the terminal larger.
“It’s meant to bring it into the 2020s,” Baker said.
He described the planned terminal as being “right-sized” and said the project was intended to make the building more efficient while addressing aging windows, heating systems and other infrastructure.
“A lot of systems are failing,” Baker said at the time.
The current terminal opened in 1982.
The $300 million authorization now approved by the commissioners provides the Airport Authority considerably more financial room to carry out that modernization than the $275 million figure that had previously been discussed.
