Showdown at OIA Over Rental Car Tax

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) Board considered a 20-year extension of a $2.50 Customer Facility Charge applied to rental cars at the airport yesterday. But the real fight was between Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and the rest of the board over funding for public and mass transportation.

GOAA Executive Director Phil Brown was proposing the continuation to fund proposed projects like All Aboard Florida’s connection to the airport and the new South Airport terminal. The proposed projects would cost at least $100 million. The board ultimately failed to adopt the resolution and the issue will resurface at next month’s board meeting.

Mayor Jacobs led a push during the meeting to postpone the decision to continue the charge and instead was asking the board to delay the approval of the 20-year fee until after the legislative session. She and other local leaders are currently lobbying for legislation granting a $2 or $3 rental car surcharge to fund mass transit in Central Florida. Jacobs was clear the legislature would move on such an issue, but extending the current Customer Facility Charge could hurt efforts to convince Governor Rick Scott to sign the legislation.

Mayor Jacobs and the county leaders would like to focus on getting support for the rental surcharge to be used for mass transportation, including funding the Lynx bus system and possibly preparing to fund SunRail. Jacobs added in her comments that even Orlando City Mayor Buddy Dyer agreed earlier that the current CFC fee would need to expire for him to support the rental car surcharge. Dyer serves as Chair of Lynx.

The surprise of the meeting came during the board vote on the proposal to allow Brown to develop a finance plan to use the Customer Facility Charges to fund his proposed projects. Chairman Frank Kruppenbacher noted before the vote that the airport was currently in “critical negotiations” with Florida East Coast Industries, the umbrella for All Aboard Florida’s train to Miami and needed to act on this matter as soon as possible.

Mayor Jacobs admitted she likely did not have the votes, and Dyer was the only board member absent for the discussion and vote. However, when the votes were cast on Brown’s recommendation, the final tally was 3-2 in favor of the resolution and General Counsel Marcos Marchena quickly reminded the board that 4 votes are needed to adopt a resolution – this motion only garnered 3 affirmative votes. Board member Jim Palmer joined Jacobs in voting no.

Mayor Jacobs had her victory. Now the focus clearly turns to Governor Scott, who is the only roadblock to paving the way for a dedicated funding source for Lynx and SunRail. A few members of the community spoke in favor of delaying Brown’s recommendation in favor of Jacobs’ recommendation while representatives connected to the rental car companies spoke out in favor of the current CFC plan proposed by Brown.