Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Tax Abuse

Close 1d2 NOW! Taxpayers are being forced to subsidize “well to do” people that own personal aircraft by providing free airports such as 1d2 Canton-Plymouth Mettetal for personal, hobby, sport, recreational use.

Pilots should be paying for their own airports via E-ZPass Group for personal hobby use rather than taxpayers like you and I that don’t fly. This is an expensive hobby that should be paid for by the people that choose to engage in it, not by outrageously including 1d2 as part of the State of Michigan or National infrastructure.

There are 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2 Canton-Plymouth Mettetal airstrip that receive 51.4% of the total MDOT/FAA NPIAS 2017-2021 budget for the entire State of Michigan. This amounts to $365,600,480.00 out of $714,881,838.00. With rapidly decreasing personal pilot/aircraft numbers and demographics, the surrounding 22 airports can easily absorb any and all activities from 1d2, including funding!

The article State may help save City Airport published by Crain’s Detroit Business, discusses the fact that the State of Michigan took ownership of two failing general aviation facilities — Romeo State Airport and Canton-Plymouth-Mettetal Airport in Canton Township — and contracted management of them to private companies. “The state would rather not own airports,” Michigan’s top public aviation official Mike Trout said. The statement still rings true to taxpayers ears, the State should NOT own airports at the taxpayers expense at all! 1d2 only supports personal hobby, sport recreational activities continuing to waste taxpayers hard earned money.

Michigan Impact

Michigan enjoys the dubious distinction of being the only state in the nation to see its population decline in the past decade, US Census figures show. As a result, Michigan lost one of its 15 congressional seats. A key explanation might be Michigan’s consistently high unemployment – which has been as high as 14.9% in 2009 – which is driving educated and skilled workers out of the state by the thousands.

The decennial census is used to reapportion the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states. Based on 2016 estimates Michigan would have 13 seats — one fewer than 2010, according to an online calculator at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center.  If this were 2020, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas would each gain one seat and Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania would each lose one. Michigan has lost at least one seat each decade since 1980. Michigan lost two House seats in 1990, when the state dropped from 18 to 16 seats.

Since 2010 Michigan population growth has continued at 0.1% or 10,585 residents between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Michigan still lags nationwide, where the population has increased 0.7%, to 323.1 million people.

Between 2002 and 2005, southeast Michigan lost 61,000 jobs, or 2.9 percent, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, a research and advocacy organization located in Detroit. Manufacturing, which includes the auto industry, took the biggest hit with job losses at 58,000, or 16 percent, in that same time period.

The State has allocated several hundred million dollars to cover damages and costs so far in Flint Michigan.  The Free Press previously reported that Flint’s water crisis has prompted the filings of a number of lawsuits that could cost Michigan taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Many of the facts, responsibilities, and costs regarding Flint Michigan  are disturbing to say the least!

Flint, Michigan’s water crisis shows why we need to start funding infrastructure cleanup, repair, remove infrastructure duplication and stop undermining regulations and threats to health and safety as soon as possible.

The stakes are very high: Flint’s mayor says it will cost up to $1.5 billion to replace the city’s aging pipes. Expensive medical care will be required for the 6,000 to 12,000 children who have been exposed to lead poisoning. Beyond that, some of these children will suffer an irreversible loss of mental capacity. It might not be enough to require institutional care, but it may permanently diminish their ability to provide for themselves and contribute to Flint’s economy. Michigan taxpayers face paying millions in legal fees regarding the Flint water crisis over the long term. Taxpayers will be paying the price long after all the current politicians are have finished their terms.

Total economic damage from lead poisoning could exceed $10 billion, counting the direct costs of repairs, the direct cost of medical care and the reduced economic productivity among those poisoned. The taxpayers of Michigan will be left to pay the bills. Some are predicting that the Flint water crisis could cost the U.S. $300 billion dollars! To add insult to injury, many Michigan  Corporations to Pay $0 in Taxes This Year, Despite Crises in Flint and Detroit.

2017 brings higher fuel, vehicle taxes in Michigan. The Michigan gasoline tax of 19 cents a gallon will increase by 7.3 cents and the diesel tax of 15 cents a gallon will go up 11.3 cents, with automatic annual inflationary adjustments in 2022 and after. Vehicle registration fees will rise 20 percent.

Michigan will have the sixth-highest gasoline taxes in the country. In Michigan you will pay about 57.3 cents a gallon, including the 18.4-cent federal gas tax. Michigan’s rank can fluctuate with prices because it is among a small number of states to also apply the sales tax to gas. Diesel taxes will be seventh-highest.

Based on 2012 data from the Federal Highway Administration, Michigan ranks 33rd among states for the amount of investment per lane-mile of road; 47th for investment per vehicle mile driven, and dead last among the 50 states for investment per driver.

Michigan legislators already had shifted a record-high $400 million in general funds to transportation in the last budget. Such diversions are ending for a few years with the influx of new revenue, which means in the current budget, funding of state highways and bridges will actually decrease slightly. Municipalities, however, will have about $157 million, or 13 percent, more to spend initially.

Michigan is among the highest property tax rates in the country. Our Great Lake State’s average effective property tax rate is 1.83%, seventh highest in the country and well above the national average. Michigan’s per capita income dropped from 20th nationally in 2001 to 36th in 2011, according to U.S. Census data.

After refunds, Michigan only nets $40M on business tax, and many Michigan Corporations to Pay $0 in Taxes This Year, Despite Crises in Flint and Detroit. This is just unbelievable in this current economic climate, the taxpayers are punished again!

An infrastructure commission created by Governor Snyder said another $2.2 billion is needed per year to halt the continued deterioration of roads and warned that deferring construction until later makes projects more expensive. The Republican governor is highly unlikely to push a new proposal in the GOP-led Legislature after struggling to win approval of the tax and fee hikes.

Here are some other facts and figures related to the state of Michigan budget and finances. Between fiscal years 2014 and 2015, total government spending in Michigan increased by approximately $4.5 billion—from $49.3 billion in fiscal year 2014 to an estimated $53.9 billion in 2015.

In 2013 Michigan received approximately $17.8 billion in federal aid, 32.8 percent of the state’s general revenues. Taking into consideration the state’s 2013 population, this came out to about $1,802 in federal aid per capita (e.g. for each person), higher than all four neighboring states, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin.

Michigan’s total estimated government spending in fiscal year 2015 was $53.9 billion. State funds amounted to $31,232,000, Federal Funds amounted to $22,633,000, total spending amounted to $53,865,000, with per capita Michigan spending at $5,428.53.

In 2014 Michigan spent 7.5% on transportation, second highest among the four neighboring states. The state’s unemployment rate in September 2014 was 7.2 percent, the highest rate among neighboring states As of 2014 Michigan state debt was $142,668,026,000, per capita debt was $14,435, 25^th worse in the nation.

Taxpayer burden – According to a report released in September 2015 by the nonprofit Truth in Accounting (TIA), Michigan ranked 9th worst in the country in “taxpayer burden.” Rather than using per capita state debt, TIA ranked states based on what it called a “taxpayer burden,” a term that reflects “the amount each taxpayer would have to send to their state’s treasury in order for the state to be debt-free.” On the other hand, states that had sufficient resources to pay their bills were said to have a “taxpayer surplus,” which represents the amount that each taxpayer would receive if the state were to disburse its excess funds.

Based on analysis of Michigan’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report from September 30, 2014 and actuarial reports for the state’s retirement plans, TIA concluded that $51.1 billion in promised retirement benefits were unfunded, but only $3.6 billion of these liabilities were reported on Michigan’s balance sheet. With all of the unfunded retirement benefits included in the total debt, the state had a shortfall of $55 billion, or a taxpayer burden of $18,100. For more details see: Morningstar, “The State of State Pension Plans 2013: A Deep Dive Into Shortfalls and Surpluses,” accessed September 16, 2013

Here is a perfect airport example in Michigan that is so similar to 1d2 in that it has no purpose other than spending federal funding simply because it is available to spend! “It’s the ‘bridge-to-nowhere” that you could land your Cessna on”, has five airports within 30 miles, is said to be “significant to national air transportation” and funded by the state and federal government much to taxpayers anger. What a complete and utter waste of taxpayers time and money! This is just like spending another dime on 1d2, adding another insult to taxpayers!

Wayne County Impact

There are many serious problems concerning Wayne County taxpayers, such as sky high taxes, high unemployment, and many others, the least of which are:

• Wayne County had the highest crime rate in the state in 2015 also shown on map.
• Failed Wayne County jail still costs $1 million a month.
• Wayne County’s $200 Million Debt for Jail Fiasco Audited by IRS.
• The unfunded pension liability of Wayne County, MI was $845,796,103 in 2015.
• There are 70 “Superfund” hazardous waste sites in Detroit that still have to be accounted for.

The list of problems that continue to be far reaching continues to grow: After eight years of leading the nation in population loss, Wayne County ranked second last year behind Cook County, Illinois, according to Census data.

Wayne County	Population	YoY %	Running %
1970 peak	2,666,751
1980	2,337,891	-12.33%	-12.33%
1990	2,111,687	-9.68%	-20.81%
2000	2,061,162	-2.39%	-22.71%
2010	1,820,584	-11.67%	-31.73%
2015 est.	1,759,335	-3.36%	-34.03%

Pictured below is the nations population change from 1970 to 2008. The population decline of Wayne County Michigan is -34% since the peak in 1970. Perhaps this is why it has the highest county taxes in the State and some of the highest county taxes in the nation.

Wayne County, Michigan is only one of five of the nation’s 45 counties with more than a million residents that lost population last year. The other counties were Cook County, Ill., Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Allegheny County, Pa., and Suffolk County, N.Y.

A majority of U.S. metro areas saw population growth last year and some Michigan metro areas climbed as well such as the Grand Rapids metro area, Kalamazoo and Lansing-East Lansing metro, and the Ann Arbor metro area. Wayne County’s populations is still declining.

In 2015 Wayne County Executive Warren Evans requested the declaration of financial emergency to help him impose a “Recovery Plan,” which aims to slash $230 million from the county budget over the next four years.

Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, said the declaration of a financial emergency is no surprise and he hopes the situation can be resolved without the need for an emergency manager or a bankruptcy.

“It’s really the balance sheet,” Colbeck said. “It’s all the stuff we’ve promised that we simply can’t afford.”

Wayne County was finally removed from state oversight in October 2016 after grappling with a $52 million structural deficit and an $82 million accumulated deficit. “Our recovery plan calls for creating surpluses through good fiscal management so that we can finish the jail and pay down our remaining unfunded liabilities, which are substantial,” Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said in the statement.  Construction of the new Wayne County jail was halted in the summer of 2013 after $151 million was spent and the final price tag was expected to be $391 million. The Wayne County Commission approved $300 million in bonds for the project.

Stability in the general fund would leave Wayne County much more prepared to handle another recession, or other future challenges. However, the county still won’t meet the Government Financial Officers Association’s outlined best practices for cash reserves in the general fund.

Michigan’s Wayne County, which contains the city of Detroit, not only has the highest property tax rates in the state but some of the highest taxes of any county in the U.S. The county’s average effective tax rate of 2.815% is more than double the national average and ranks among the 20 highest in the country.

Special interests and lobbyists are saying that $100 billion in infrastructure spending is needed over the next five years. That figure represents a huge jump from the estimate of $76 billion two years ago. The Federal Aviation Administration estimated in September 2016 that airports need just $32.5 billion in infrastructure spending over the next five years. Taxpayers are being taken advantage on a continual basis!

Some good news from input gathered on Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) Master Plan indicates that no new runway(s) are needed in the 20-year planning horizon, according to the airport plans. “Based on a recent assessment, we’re confident Detroit Metropolitan Airport is positioned to accommodate future activity and growth,” said Thomas Naughton, Wayne County Airport Authority CEO, in a statement this week. “Despite the expected growth in total passengers, our forecast indicates an additional runway at Detroit Metropolitan Airport is not anticipated to be needed within the next two decades. This is a key example of the important information we look at during the master plan update process.”

Total passengers at DTW are expected to increase an average of 1.3 percent each year between 2015 and 2035, while air cargo could rise an average of 1.7 percent in that time, according to an analysis the community advisory committee reviewed.

Similarly, Willow run has excess capacity and can accommodate every activity that 1d2 currently handles without a hiccup. Willow Run Airport (YIP) serves general aviation, cargo and corporate jet markets, and is also run by the Wayne County Airport Authority.

Willow Run Airport has seen many improvements recently and is poised to offer the aviation industry one of the most updated airfields in the region. Existing projects, along with projects planned for the near future, are allowing the airport to configure itself into a safer, more user friendly place to do business.

These improvements will bring added jobs and revenue to the airport as well as the community. Planning and implementation of these improvements are done in phases of time, each noted in the Master Plan. Willow Run Airport officials are excited about the future and look forward to continually serving the surrounding communities, because being a good neighbor is their top priority.  1d2 funding and operations can easily be folded into YIP-Willow Run, ARB-Ann Arbor, and Y47-New Hudson to benefit all Michigan taxpayers!

Detroit Impact

As people streamed out of Detroit the emigration rate from 2000-2010 meant one person left the city every 22 minutes, and between 2000 and 2010 the city population dropped below the 750,000 mark to 713,777 according to the U.S. Decennial Census.

Detroit	Population	YoY %	Running %
1950 peak	1,860,000
1970	1,514,063
1980	1,203,368	-20.52%	-20.52%
1990	1,027,974	-14.58%	-32.10%
2000	951,270	-7.46%	-37.17%
2010	713,777	-24.97%	-52.86%
2015 est.	677,116	-5.14%	-55.28%

During the mid-20th century, Detroit was the fourth largest city in the United States with a population of over 1.85 million people. In 1950, there were about 296,000 manufacturing jobs in Detroit. Today, there are less than 27,000.

For the first time since 1850, before the Civil War, the Detroit population rank is at its lowest level. Detroit is no longer among the nation’s 20 most populous cities.

“A lot of Detroiters really think of themselves as being in one of the country’s biggest cities, and that’s just not true anymore,” said Kevin Boyle, an author and history professor at Northwestern University, who grew up in Detroit.

“It’s just a fundamentally different place than it was a half century ago.”

This fact is a vivid reminder of shrinking clout in state and national politics and Federal programs. At the city’s peak of 1.8 million people in 1950, it held 29 percent of the state’s population. Today, it’s less than 7 percent. 2015 was Detroit’s was the smallest population decline in decades. Overall the entire Midwest has lost population with the South and West gaining much more. The 11 fastest growing cities in the US are in Texas, Utah, California, Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina.

Detroit lost an average of 31,000 residents each year between 1970 and 1980, and about 24,000 each year between 2000 and 2010.

Additionally, Detroit, and Flint, are among nation’s poorest cities, Census data shows. The percentage of Metro Detroiters living below the poverty level was 16.1 in 2014. The rate of children below the poverty level in the region 23.7 percent in 2014. Detroit has an impoverished population of 39.3 percent.

The volume of abandoned homes is ‘absolutely terrifying’! Since 2005, more than 1-in-3 Detroit properties — 139,699 of 384,672 — have been foreclosed because of mortgage defaults or unpaid taxes, property records show. The vast majority are houses, and the tally is so huge it shocked even those who spent years working on foreclosure in Detroit.

To get a sense of the loss, consider all the houses in Warren, Livonia, Royal Oak, Southfield and Allen Park. Empty them. That number is still less than all the foreclosures in Detroit. “It’s not just 140,000 properties. It’s people living in those properties. The number of lives affected is just staggering” said Steve Tobocman, a former state representative who served as co-director of the Michigan Foreclosure Task Force.

A significant percentage of housing parcels in Detroit are vacant, with abandoned lots making up more than half of total residential lots in large portions of the city. With at least 70,000 abandoned buildings, 31,000 empty houses, and 90,000 vacant lots, Detroit has become notorious for its urban blight.

In Detroit, homes lost to foreclosure are often never re-occupied: 76 percent of the 84,000 properties on the city’s blight list are foreclosures, according an inventory of housing conditions by the Detroit Blight Task Force. And Detroit’s population is still declining!

As usual, taxpayers pay for the damage, from demolition costs and declining property values to diminished quality of life. It’s is hard forging optimism about the future of the city, the county, and the State, when constantly surrounded by ghosts of the devastation.

At the same time taxpayers are forced into paying for 1d2, an unneeded personal hobby, sport, recreational use airport venue in a densely populated neighborhood area surrounded by schools.

The mass exodus is starting to finally taper off  leaving nearly half of Detroit’s 138 square mile area vacant. Falling property values are one of the main reasons for county’s budget problems.  Wayne County’s property tax revenues are down 30 percent, over $100 million a year, from 2008 levels.

Detroit has the second highest residential property taxes in the Nation. The high rate of 3.88 percent can be attributed to low property values. The rankings for property taxes on commercial property don’t get any better. The city has moved up a place, coming in first in the nation for highest effective property tax rates on a $1 million commercial property.

The Detroit Free Press article How best to measure Detroit success and Mayor Mike Duggan’s? notes that a key economic indicator, Detroit’s workforce participation rate — the percentage of adults either working or actively looking for a job — remains at about 53%, the lowest of any major U.S. city for which data is available.

That rate, which means that nearly half the adults in Detroit are neither working nor looking for a job, stands 10 percentage points below the national average and far below the 75% participation rate in a tech-savvy, youth-oriented city like Seattle. The article concludes by saying that “The sobering census data reminds us that Detroit is a work in progress. And that progress remains long, slow and difficult to achieve.”

In light of the horrible decay and devastation the Detroit City airport still receives State and Federal money to operate even though it has never been able to survive under its own weight. Another ongoing taxpayer debacle!

Household Impact

Taxpayers are stretched to the limit, this includes single Moms and Dads, retirees on a fixed income, families struggling to save anything let alone save for their children’s college education. Most taxpayers do not realize they are forced into paying for 1d2 for the benefit of personal hobby aircraft and the facilities required to store, operate, and maintain them.

U.S. household debt near 2008 levels, a Federal Reserve report says. Total U.S. household debt climbed to a near-record $12.58 trillion by the end of 2016, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report says. At the current rate of growth, household debt is expected to break the 2008 record high, of $12.68 trillion, sometime in 2017. The year was marked by the start of a recession.

American Families Are Trillions of Dollars in Debt. Here’s What They Owe, in Five Charts. The average household that has credit card debt owes $16,000. That number is $27,000 for auto loans, $48,000 for student loans, and $169,000 for mortgages.

Auto Loan Delinquencies Climbs North, Highest Since 2008 Financial Crisis. The total auto debt rose to hit $1.16 trillion with around $93 billion in 2016 alone. According to The New York Federal Reserve, the total number of car loans increased to the highest ever of 106 million in the fourth quarter. This reflected an increase of around 6 million over the year.

To single moms, or retirees on a fixed income, it is very hard to understand why they as taxpayers are forced to subsidize “well to do” people with personal hobby airplanes so they can make a “breakfast run” to Jackson or Ann Arbor, or attend a “fly in” in Northern Michigan, all paid for by taxpayers that do so unknowingly and do not get a choice.

Funding for 1d2 comes by hiding behind commercial aviation taxes. 1d2 is only used as a  personal hobby, sport, recreational venue, and as a fancy coffee club for group picnics or “fly ins”, almost like a pub crawl.  1d2 sits statistically empty and unused, most of the year due to various reasons, such as weather, time of day, holidays, lack of demand, etc. Taxpayers are sick of paying for personal hobby, sport, recreational use, this is no longer acceptable!

Taxpayers Pay for Sum of ALL Negative Impacts

 Communities, Schools and Libraries, neighborhoods are all negatively impacted, some cities are laying off librarians, cutting resources for schools in many ways, and the State continues to pay for 1d2 a personal hobby, sport, recreational venue, used by several dozen hangar renters!

• 2013 Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history and emerged in 2014 with urban blight still veiling modest recovery efforts.
• Wayne County highest property taxes in the State.
• Michigan has one of the highest gasoline taxes in the country. The previous combined gas tax was 30.54 cents per gallon January 1, 2017 the rate went up 7.3 cents per gallon, based on a 2015 law. The new combined tax rate will be 37.84 cents per gallon! This put Michigan among the nation’s top five for highest gas tax rates.
• Sales of Previously Owned U.S. Homes Fell 3.7% in February
• Wayne county is the only county in Michigan to have five or more airports, all are operating way under capacity in the FAA NPIAS projected 2017 – 2021 time period and well beyond projections for almost the next 20 years.
• There are 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2 that provide more appropriate facilities.
• The 70 “Superfund” hazardous waste sites in Detroit that still have to be accounted for in Wayne County.
• Sales Tax Rate – 6%; the sales tax will be increased to 7% between 2017 and 2026
• 1d2 should be used to generate residential or industrial tax revenue or be used as a green space for the entire community.
• Taxpayers can’t determine how much hard earned money is is being wasted funding personal airplane usage due to confidential reporting restrictions placed via obscure laws discussed further down. These laws are perpetrated by special interests and lobbyist pressure groups and completely undermine taxpayer transparency.
• The burden placed on the taxpayers goes on and on . . .

Michigan Airport System Plans (MASP) – 1d2

The Michigan Airport System Plan (MASP) is the State of Michigan MDOT airport planning, forecasting, and funding tool. Michigan airports are classified by MDOT in the Michigan Airport System Plan (MASP 2008 pdf). The current version is MASP 2008, and MASP 2017  is currently in development. It is anticipated that MASP 2017 will not affect the accuracy or validity any statement on this web site at all because the FAA NPIAS 2017 – 2021 has already been finalized based on input from MDOT.  However, we will monitor and update as soon as the MASP 2017 is released.

Now Let’s look at how the State classifies 1d2, and then examine the FAA classification works to see exactly how airports such as 1d2 are funded. The State of Michigan uses the Michigan Airport System Plan, MASP-2008 and works with the FAA and together they jointly form inputs to the FAA National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems, NPIAS-2017-2021. Together these form the backbone for FAA funding to the State of Michigan regarding airports. There are a couple keys definitions and classifications that are used to classify an airport for the appropriate funding type.

The FAA uses an Airport Reference Code (ARC) system to classify airports based on the operational and physical characteristics of the most demanding aircraft intended to operate at the facility. The attributes for the most demanding aircraft are basically broken down into a system that has two major components:

1. Approach Category Standards: which relates to a grouping operational characteristics of aircraft that can be accommodated.
2. Design Group Standards: which relates to the physical characteristics of aircraft.

Approach Category Standards

The Approach Category Standards table shows approach speeds for each FAA approach category. An aircraft approach category is a grouping of aircraft based on 1.3 times the stall speed in landing configuration at maximum certified landing weight. The aircraft group must generate or be forecasted to generate at least 500 total annual operations. The highest category of aircraft to meet this standard is established as the critical aircraft at an airport.

Design Group Standards

In order to determine the appropriate ARC for an airport, a “design aircraft” is first determined. The design aircraft is typically the most demanding aircraft (in terms of an airport’s physical features) that conducts at least 500 annual operations at the airport.

The airplane design group standards shows a grouping of airplanes based on wingspan. The design group of the critical aircraft determines the geometrics of the airport. Runway and taxiway widths, apron sizes, turning radii, and other airport physical characteristics are based on design group designation, as shown in the Design Group Standards table.

MASP Airport Classification

For the MASP, all airports are classified by approach category and design group of the primary runway. The ARC Classification with Runway Length table shows the typical (suggested) runway length for the corresponding ARC classifications.

Here are the number of airports are grouped together. 1d2 falls into a group of < 3,500 feet in length. In fact 1d2 is the shortest runway of all A-I and B-I airports in Michigan!

WARNING: 1d2 is 2,303 feet or almost 700 feet short of the  standard A-I runway length of 3,000 feet. A   B-I class airport requires a runway almost 700 feet longer than 1d2 for the minimum and almost 1,200 ft longer than the standard maximum  3,500 foot length used to classify B-I runways in MASP above. 1d2 is the shortest Tier 1 Reliever airport in the State, and perhaps in the entire US! It is interesting to note that NO traffic has ever officially been diverted to 1d2 which would result in 1d2 being used used as a ‘Reliever’ airport at all! 1d2 is used strictly based on the choice of the pilot in charge (PIC) of an aircraft.

MASP Classification and Priorities

The MASP, from a state perspective, assigns airports to one of three tiers based on an airport’s ability to respond to MDOT goals and objectives.

• Tier 1 Airports respond to essential/critical state airport system goals and objectives. These core airports should be developed to their full and appropriate level.
• Tier 2 Airports complement the essential/critical state airport system and/ or respond to local community needs. Focus at these facilities should be on maintaining infrastructure with less emphasis on facility expansion.
• Tier 3 Airports duplicate services provided by other airports and/or respond to specific needs of individuals and/or small businesses. These facilities are secondary to meeting the overall state system goals and receive only minimal safety enhancements, such as runway cones and wind socks.

FAA NPIAS ‘Reliever Airport‘ Status

1d2 is also classified as a ‘Reliever Airport’ based in the FAA NPIAS. Not sure how this happened, but it only serves to get Federal FAA handouts and then match the Federal handouts against State handouts. This seems to be an obscure fact that the taxpayers are not aware of. Many believe that this is because 1d2 is State owned, and a couple MDOT employees live close by. The 1d2 reliever designation appears to be an understanding between the FAA, the State of Michigan, special interests, lobbyists and pressure groups. The fact that 1d2 is not mentioned as a ‘Reliever’ anywhere in the MASP 2008 is interesting to say the least, it is sort of hidden unless you know where to find it.

1d2 has been classified as a Tier 1 A-I Reliever airport that should be developed to its full and appropriate level, and extended to be a B-I class airport since the current Masp was published in 2008. This is a trick used on every hard working taxpayer to get State and Federal handouts to pay for the 1d2 personal hobby, sport, recreational airstrip, again, most people don’t even realize they’re forced into paying for it without their knowledge.

The MASP 2008 is available on this web site in a convenient combined, optimized form for the web, for easy and practical viewing. It is next to impossible to find the MASP document(s) in all of their parts on the State of Michigan web site and then combine them for practical use! It is almost as if they are obscured or hidden purposely, just like the budget documents, master airport plans, and other airport related documents, etc.

Additionally, it does not appear that the 1d2  MASP mis-classification facts have been taken into account in the Canton Township, City of Plymouth, or Plymouth Township Master Plans to any extent at all regarding plans/intentions to support B-I level aircraft expansion. Most local government officials and taxpayers seem to be unaware the MDOT intention has always been to expand 1d2 to handle B-I jets since the MASP 2008 was published. Prior to that the original intention in the 1970s was to handle B-II jets.

Typical B-I Class Airport Design Group Standards

Here is what the MDOT recommendations would mean for 1d2 classification using FAA typical B-I category aircraft moving clockwise:

• Cessna Citation I
• Learjet 28
• Rockwell Sabre 40
• Dassault Falcon Jet I

Many FAA B-I category aircraft have maximum take-off weight (MTOW) over the 12,500lbs limit for Part 23 aircraft and are therefore considered to be commercial, business, or corporate class aircraft. No longer exclusively hobby, sport, recreational Part 91 rules apply. This would  then include commercial operations such as Part 121, 135, etc. There is no  reason to have a commercial activity in a ‘densely populated’ neighborhood at an undersized unsafe airport such as 1d2 under any conditions.

MASP Total Coverage Goals

The goal of MASP is to ensure that all citizens have access to air travel. MASP 2008 achieves the goals of 95% and 99% coverage with existing 2008 report results even today due to weakened demand, reduced requirements, economic downturn. very much in line with FAA projections, DTW projections, YIP projections, basically everyone’s projections say the same thing!

The Conclusion of the MASP 2008 states on page 54-55 of MASP 2008 it states that in addition to Table 22:

Those airports required to achieve 100 percent general population coverage are designated as Tier 2 and include the four airports identified in Table 23. All of these airports currently meet the B-II airport classification for service to the general population.    . . .

The 28 airports designated for inclusion in Tier 1, at minimum classification of B-II [which does not include 1d2] meet the target performance objective of 95 percent. The four airports included in Table 27 result in a 99 percent service coverage rate of the state’s population. By extending the service area coverage to 60 minutes [as FAA NPIAS 2017-2021 does] rather than 45 minutes, virtually all Michigan residents would have access to an airport included in either Tier 1 or Tier 2.

There is greatly reduced demand that is much less than 2008 and a huge glut of excess aviation capacity. 1d2 should clearly be removed as a ‘Reliever’ and the several dozen hangar renters moved to at YIP-Willow Run, ARB-Ann Arbor, and Y47-New Hudson and closed down for the good of all taxpayers of Michigan. The following FAA discussion also support this direction and ultimate conclusion.

Again, the only reason that 1d2 is funded at all is that  1d2 is State owned. 1d2 does NOT have any unique capabilities or contribution to the community that cannot be handled better and more appropriately distributed to YIP, ARB, and Y47, all of which are just minutes away. See the comparison of airports table in the Lead Poisoning section.

FAA National Plan for Integrated Airport Systems:
NPIAS 2017 – 2021

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) 2017–2021 report to the US Congress identifies the airports included in the national airport system, the role they serve, and the amounts and types of airport development eligible for Federal funding under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) over the next 5 years. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been publishing the NPIAS since 1984.

The NPIAS 2017-2021 edition identifies 3,340 public-use airports1 (3,332 existing and 8 proposed) that are important to national air transportation and estimates a need for approximately $32.5 billion in AIP eligible airport projects between 2017 and 2021. This is a decrease of $1 billion (3 percent) from the report issued 2 years ago.

Airport capital development needs are driven by current and forecasted traffic, use and age of facilities, and changing aircraft technology, which requires airports to update or replace equipment and infrastructure. AIP-eligible development is expected to decrease at large and medium hubs, but development at small hubs is expected to increase, and development at all other airport categories remain flat.

Capacity-related development continues to decrease while development to reconstruct pavement, bring an airport up to design standards, and expand or rehabilitate terminal buildings are projected to increase. While this report shows an increase in terminal projects, particularly at the small hubs, many of the large and medium hub airports have terminal projects planned. Since these are generally funded with Passenger Facility Charges (PFC), these costs tend not to be captured in the NPIAS report.

There are 1,804 existing public-use airports that generally are not included in the NPIAS because they do not meet the minimum entry criteria, are located at inadequate sites, cannot be expanded and improved to provide a safe and efficient airport, or are located within 30 miles of another NPIAS airport.

Some key points from the NPIAS 2017–2021 report are:

• General aviation activity, as measured by total operations at airports with control towers, has decreased 36 percent since 2000, and is expected to continue to decline.
• The majority of air cargo flights usually occurs during off-peak periods and do not substantially contribute to airport congestion and delay problems.
• “Personal Use” of general aviation aircraft is the single largest use category of GA, down from 33.5% in 2012. “Personal Use” includes hobby, recreational, sport flying, family use, etc..
• The U.S. general aviation manufacturing sector experienced its first decline in deliveries since 2010.
• Fixed-wing piston aircraft, the largest segment of the general fleet, is predicted to shrink over the forecast period by 19,280 aircraft (at an average annual rate of 0.7 percent). Created in 2005, the light-sport aircraft category is the smallest segment of the fleet but forecasted to grow by 4.5 percent annually, adding about 3,700 total new aircraft by 2036, which is a trivial 195 new aircraft a year across the entire US for the next 20 years.
• Airports should continue to strive to be compatible with surrounding communities, maintaining a balance between the needs of aviation, the environment, and the requirements of residents of the community.

Many airports have an expected continued decline, cargo flights such as at Willow Run (YIP) occur off hours and don’t contribute to congestion and delay problems. Personal aircraft and the personal hobby, recreational, sport use continue the downward spiral. In summary = Excess capacity goes hand in hand with severely decreased demand.

NPIAS 2017-2021 APPENDIX C: AIRPORT CRITERIA – STATUTORY AND POLICY DEFINITIONS

Statutory Definitions – some keys points:

Reliever – An airport designated by the Secretary of Transportation to relieve congestion at a commercial service airport and to provide more general aviation access to the overall community. Non-primary in nature.

Reliever airports are typically high capacity general aviation airports in major metropolitan areas. These specialized airports provide pilots with practical alternatives to using the congested hub airports, but are not required. There are 260 reliever airports that average 228 based aircraft and together account for almost 30 percent of the entire Nation’s general aviation fleet. 1d2 should have never been designated as a Reliever other than to get FAA dollars.

General Aviation – A public airport that does not have scheduled service or has scheduled service with less than 2,500 passenger boardings each year. Non primary in nature.

Policy Definitions – some key points:

Regional – Supports regional economies by connecting communities to regional and national markets. Generally located in metropolitan areas and serve relatively large populations. Regional airports have high levels of activity with some jets and multiengine propeller aircraft. The metropolitan areas in which regional airports are located can be metropolitan statistical areas with an urban core population of at least 50,000 or micropolitan statistical areas with a core urban population between 10,000 and 50,000.

• In a metropolitan statistical area, 10 or more domestic flights over 500 miles, 1,000 or more instrument operations, and 1 or more based jet or 100 or more based aircraft.
• Reliever with 90 or more based aircraft.
• Nonprimary commercial service airport (requiring scheduled service) within a metropolitan statistical area

Local – Supplements local communities by providing access to markets within a State or immediate region. Local airports are most often located near larger population centers, but not necessarily in metropolitan or micropolitan areas. Most of the flying at local airports is by piston aircraft in support of business and personal needs. These airports typically accommodate flight training, emergency services, and charter passenger service.

1d2 is incorrectly classified based on the above definitions:

• 1d2 has no charter passenger service, no scheduled commercial service, no instrument operations, no jets, no cargo, only one or two old small old second hand multi-engine aircraft, way less than 90 aircraft, does not connect or provide the community to any regional or national markets, and there are virtually NO itinerant operations.
• 1d2 duplicates many close by, for a total of 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2.
• 1d2 should not be an NPIAS airport at all!

FAA NPIAS Formulation Evaluation

In 2012 FAA report General Aviation Airports: A National Asset (2012 pdf) it defines criteria for categorizing general aviation (GA) airports into four categories: National, Regional, Local, and Basic. The GA airports include general aviation airports, heliports, and seaplane bases.

In the 2014 FAA report In-Depth Review of 497 Unclassified Airports (2014 pdf) new classification categories were used for public-use general aviation airports in the United States and published in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) 2017-2021 Report.

These categories were revised and amended to include another category called ‘unclassified’ to describe airports that are in the NPIAS but do not fit into the four other categories. These NPIAS categories of GA airports have not been used in the previously published studies found during this research, and provide an opportunity to model and potentially improve an estimating method of annual operations at GA non-towered airports

The FAA report to Congress Evaluating the Formulation of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), was submitted to Congress by the Secretary of Transportation on November 4, 2015, in accordance with section 155 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act (FMRA) of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-95. The FAA was directed to study the formulation of the NPIAS and evaluate six specific issues, including removing airports from the NPIAS and eliminating the Reliever Airport designation.

This report documents the findings and provides policy considerations for each issue. Each chapter of the report corresponds to a section in the legislation, with the exception of chapter 2, which addresses the matters identified in sections 155(b)(2) and (b)(3) of the FMRA. At the end of each chapter is a list of findings and policy considerations.

Over the last 47 years, there has been dramatic shifts in population which has resulted in changing and greatly diminished aviation needs. Currently, only a few large hub airports have chronic delays. The reliever category does not fit with the current aviation system. There are 264 reliever airports and the majority do not meet the reliever criteria. The number of reliever airports peaked in 1998 with 334. 1978=147 Reliever, 1998=334, 2013=264.

The report contains a precise map that shows severely decreased population change in South Eastern Michigan and specifically Wayne County accompanied by severely decreased aviation demand that can be better served by three other close airports, namely YIP-Willow Run, ARB-Ann Arbor, and Y47-New Hudson.

If 1d2 was not owned by the State of Michigan it would NOT be eligible for FAA NPIAS grants! 1d2 should be removed from FAA NPIAS funding and its funding (NPEs) transferred to another Michigan airport that has commercial service.

There is no record of 1d2 EVER providing any ‘reliever’ traffic at all! No traffic has ever been diverted to 1d2! The Southeastern Michigan area has seen dramatic population decline, reducing the need for aviation facilities. 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2 is obscene overkill and a total abuse of taxpayer hard earned money.

Types of Airports in the NPIAS 2013-2017

About 65 percent of the public landing facilities in the United States are in the NPIAS and 35 percent are not. One thousand eight hundred and seventeen public use landing facilities are not included in the NPIAS because they either:

• do not meet the minimum NPIAS entry criteria;
• are located at inadequate sites and cannot be expanded or improved to provide a safe and efficient airport;
• are located within 20 miles of another NPIAS airport; or
• the airport owner/operator has chosen not to pursue NPIAS inclusion because they prefer not to be bound by the rules that would accompany Federal funding.

Existing Entry Criteria for the NPIAS

Updated Definition: Reliever airport.

Relieve congestion at a commercial service airport that is serving a metropolitan area with a population of at least 250,000 or at least 250,000 enplanements;

1. Provide general aviation access to the overall community;
2. Has at least 100 based aircraft or 25,000 annual itinerant operations; and
3. The airport being relieved must be operating at 60 percent of its capacity.

 However, FAA found that, in general, based aircraft is the most reliable indicator of activity at small airports.

1d2 now has less than 7 dozen hangar renters, and is not relevant to taxpayers at all and does NOT meet any of the requirements above.

Validated Based Aircraft as a Measure of Activity

Operations (takeoffs and landings) are a key measure of an airport’s activity levels, but this data is not often available for airports without control towers. Instead, FAA has long recognized that the number of based aircraft is a valid indicator of an airport’s activity levels (based on a strong correlation between based aircraft and operations), but has historically had difficulty obtaining consistent, accurate, and verifiable data about based aircraft. For many years NPIAS airports self-reported the number of aircraft based at the airport. The airport community was reluctant to provide detailed information citing privacy concerns or lack of accurate data. Some aircraft owners may have been concerned about the possible property tax implications.

Because based aircraft is a key indicator for activity, beginning in 2007, FAA and the states worked together to validate active aircraft using publicly available aircraft data. The FAA identified the number of active and airworthy aircraft based at NPIAS airports. Based at least in part to better reporting, the total active and airworthy aircraft counts decreased about 18 percent from 152,668 aircraft in 2007 to 125,313 aircraft in 2014.

The FAA found that there is no requirement for an aircraft owner to identify the airport where their aircraft is based. While FAA will continue to survey airports about based aircraft, FAA also recommends aircraft owners report the location of their aircraft as part of their triennial aircraft registration process. For airports requesting entry into the NPIAS, FAA now requires validated based aircraft counts through www.basedaircraft.com.

Updating NPIAS Criteria

The FAA is in the process of updating FAA Order 5090.3C and is considering several changes to the entry criteria. Some of the changes being considered include:

• clarifying the minimum distance between NPIAS airports (i.e., changing it to no closer than 30 miles from the next nearest NPIAS general aviation airport); 1d2 three closeby
• eliminating the ground travel time equivalent because it is too difficult to apply consistently; and
• linking airport’s role in the system with future development. 1d2 has NO future expansion from A-I to B-I
• The categorization of nonprimary airports developed through the ASSET studies have been incorporated in the NPIAS Report to Congress and are being incorporated into FAA guidance, including the updated NPIAS order.

Considering Airports in Close Proximity

The FAA often receives NPIAS entry requests from airports that are very close to another airport. This is frequently because the requesting airport is in a different county or city. When a second or third general aviation airport is already operating within 30 miles, it is likely that it would be duplicating services. Therefore, the updated NPIAS criteria will recommend verifying whether multiple airports are needed and whether the airports can be sustained both financially and by aeronautical activity within a small area.

The NPIAS order update will also consider a new requirement that the state or metropolitan area have completed a system plan that indicates the number of based aircraft within the catchment area, and determine if there are adequate local resources and sufficient demand to support all of the airports. However, inclusion in a system plan does not automatically mean an airport will be added to the NPIAS.

Findings

Listed below are six findings related to the NPIAS criteria and how they were applied to the 2013-2017 Report.

• The criteria used for including airports in the plan generally meet the aviation needs of the United States.
• The NPIAS entry criteria have been appropriately applied to airports requesting entry into the NPIAS, however, privately owned general aviation and reliever airports have not been updated since 2000.
• The new ASSET roles provide a better delineation of the general aviation airport community and are being adopted in FAA guidance. The reliever designation is outdated and does not reflect an airport’s current role in the system.
• The classification of the airports within the NPIAS itself largely conforms to the stated aviation policies of the United States in title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.), § 47101.
• Using prospective, speculative economic impact to the surrounding community is not a sufficient rationale for adding an airport to the NPIAS.
• Many states have multiple airports within a small area duplicating services and competing with each other.

1d2 should no longer be included in NPIAS! FAA funding works cross purposes and unfairly provides advantages over other airports that are trying to operate as a viable business concern.

FAA AIP Critique: GAO

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) performed another study titled AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM: Reliever Airport Set-Aside Funds Could Be Redirected pursuant to a congressional request. The GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP), focusing on whether the relievers set-aside project:

• reduces congestion at commercial airports by improving reliever airports
• provides general aviation with additional access to airports.

The GAO found that:

• FAA does not consider general aviation to be a significant factor in congestion at commercial airports;
• the 38-percent decrease in general aviation traffic can be attributed to an overall decline in general aviation activity, not the presence of reliever airports;
• FAA often considers general aviation access excessive in areas where relievers are located;
• Diminishing general aviation traffic has resulted in competition among airports for the same general aviation users;
• although FAA does not know whether reliever funding has actually reduced congestion or improved access, it plans to continue to designate a percentage of all AIP funds for reliever projects;
• FAA could reduce the number of airports designated as relievers so that only those that currently have the facilities to accommodate large general aviation aircraft would be included in the set-aside;
• FAA could eliminate the designation of AIP funds altogether and have current reliever airports compete with all other general aviation airports for general aviation development funds.

Another FAA AIP Critique

In the article Senate’s FAA Authorization Perpetuates Big-Government Intrusion into Aviation Industry (pdf), it reports that:

The problem with the FAA AIP is that it redistributes funding from major airports to airports that serve relatively few travelers. The FAA classifies the nation’s most critical airports as large and medium hubs, which together account for 88 percent of commercial enplanements. Yet even though these airports move the vast majority of travelers, they receive just 26.6 percent of airport improvement grants. Since the grants are funded primarily by taxes paid by these passengers, this represents a gross misallocation of resources due to political machinations in Congress.

The FAA AIP subsidizes convenience for special interest groups at the expense of taxpayers and the overall aviation system. It should be eliminated.

Critical reforms are missing, but Special-Interest Giveaways Make the Cut. This broken plan should be grounded in favor of developing a real free-market vision for the FAA and the aviation sector. This would help eliminate handouts for activities that are not economically viable such as 1d2. The free-market vision is detailed further in the report End of the Runway: Rethinking the Airport Improvement Program and the Federal Role in Airport Funding that graphically shows the tremendous mis-match in far AIP funding.

Revised Airport Funding

There is a big need for Improving Airport Funding to Meet the Needs of Passengers and taxpayers. Current State of Michigan and FAA funding works cross purposes and enforces unfair competition between many close airports, some private, that are at a distinct disadvantage. Only the strongest airports that are viable business concerns should continue to operate at the expense of the taxpayers! Close 1d2 NOW!

While commercial air travel is a critically important sector of any advanced economy the public policy on airport spending should be more in line with the benefit principle. According to the benefit principle, the people who use a public service should generally be the ones to contribute to that service. This is true of commercial air travel but more so of personal hobby, sport, recreational air travel! The people that are using the resource should pay for it to receive the benefits, it is obviously a two way street.

The many taxes on commercial passenger air travel do not always fund projects that benefit the average commercial passenger. Also, the taxpayers are forced to pay for others personal air travel are not the ones using it. These federal taxes deserve gradual replacement with a more locally-controlled, user-based fee structure.

The Nation has a completely outdated airport financing structure. Local communities, not the federal government, should make decisions about the funding and modernization of airports through the use of updated user fees.

Reliance on Airport Improvement Program spending is cumbersome, inefficient, and wasteful  for airports that could be paying for the costs of their own improvements, or airports that shouldn’t be allocated any funds at all based on needs and requirements.

Federal Spending Does Not Match the Distribution of Revenue. While the United States has several thousand airports, most commercial passenger traffic flows through a select few. About 96 percent of enplanements (passengers boarding a departing flight) happen at the 135 largest commercial service airports in the country, which the FAA designates as “large, medium and small hubs.” See All Airports with CY 2013 Enplanements, Jan. 26, 2015, for more details. These airports remit the vast majority of the revenue generated by the taxes described above because of the number of passengers that depart from, pass through, or arrive at these airports.

Unfortunately, FAA funding does not match the distribution of its revenue. In that same year of 2013, the FAA’s AIP awarded $3 billion in grants, of which $540 million went to projects specifically marked for general aviation airports – that is, airports that do not regularly serve commercial passenger traffic and instead only serve the personal use of planes. See FAA Grants Awared histories for more details.

It is time to stop the ‘free ride’ of personal private planes. Need to separate out private aircraft utilization as taxpayers are sick of paying for personal hobby, sport, recreational use venues. Need the equivalent Passenger Facility Charge for private aircraft to use public use airports. A  Passenger Facility Charge is the most market-based solution for airport funding, reducing reliance on federal taxes and allowing local communities to make informed cost-benefit analyses. Fuel taxes don’t pay for the share of costs. Can’t see secret funding anyway. E-ZPass Group infrastructure could easily be utilized to collect fees for personal, hobby, sport, recreational use.

Taxpayers demand that those who benefit from the airports and airspace system pay their own costs equitably, and not the taxpayer who doesn’t benefit from the personal use of private aircraft at all.

Secret Tax Funding

It is clear that the intention of this Michigan legislation is to hide the truth from taxpayers. Taxpayers can’t even see how badly we’re being ripped off! This is not only unbelievable, but it is so irresponsible and disrespectful to taxpayers! This will need help from the press and elected officials or the use of the FOIA to get the ‘real details’. The legislation is described below.

Here is the wording of the Michigan legislation that hides the truth from taxpayers:

MI S 614 (W Schmidt) – Provides an informational reporting requirement on the storage, use and consumption of aviation fuel; requires confidential reporting on the entire amount, the amount of tax for which the taxpayer is responsible, the percentage collected on aviation fuel, the number of gallons sold at each airport and the price paid; provides that such report does not constitute a tax return; provides a penalty for failure to report; provides for deposits into the State Aeronautics Fund and the Qualified Airport Fund.

The funds from Aviation Fuel taxes and hangar rental fees do not even come close to cover the millions of dollars of costs to operate and maintain 1d2 that has anywhere from 1-6 personnel from a third party management company billing the State of Michigan. There are less than seven dozen aircraft at 1d2 and the number is falling rapidly. The average age of those aircraft is 35 to well over 50 years old, many aircraft you cannot even get parts for any more.  1d2 even underprices 100LL leaded aviation fuel to lure aircraft to land at 1d2 hurting competition with other State and non State owned and non FAA funded airports in the 10 county area.

Michigan Economic Impacts

Lets’s take a look at many of the typical hobby, sport, recreational, leisure venues and the related numbers and contributions including Hunting, Fishing, Boating, Parks, Tourism, etc. so we can compare positive metrics and key performance indicators. It’s easy to see the direct, demonstrable, measurable, positive economic impact, numbers, statistics, and ROI on the Michigan economy on Department of Natural Resources (DNR) web site regarding  hobby, sport, recreational venues supported by the taxpayers and the DNR positive economic impacts on the State economy.

Fishing/Boating

• Anglers boost the state’s economy, spending $2.4 billion in trip-related expenses and equipment in 2011.
• Michigan’s angler participation rated fifth in the nation — 1.1 million licensed anglers in 2011 – drawing over $11.2 million in federal funds to fish and aquatic habitat conservation.
• Michigan is second with number of registered boaters at 1,000,337, behind California with 1,051,606. There were 13.0 million recreational boats registered in the United States.
• The Eastern North Central region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin) holds the number one spot with 2.7 million boats, accounting for one out of every five boats registered in the country.

Hunting & Wildlife

• Michigan hunters boost the state’s economy, spending $2.3 billion on trip-related expenses and equipment in 2011. Wildlife-watching activities alone bring in $1.2 billion in trip-related expenses and equipment annually.
• Michigan’s hunter participation ranks third in the nation — 795,535 licensed hunters in 2011 — contributing nearly $28 million in federal funds to wildlife management and wildlife habitat restoration.

Parks

• Michigan’s 102 state parks and recreation areas annually welcome 22 million visitors.
• In 2012, state parks saw 1 million camp nights for the first time since 2005, a significant milestone that can be attributed in part to the success of the innovative Recreation Passport that provides access to state parks, recreation areas, trailheads and boating access sites.
• Michigan has 1,000-plus DNR-managed boat launches and more than 80 harbors that support the state’s $4 billion boating industry.

Forestry & Firefighting

• Nearly 4 million acres of world-class state forest land (one of the largest dedicated acreages in the nation) provide more than 800,000 cords per year of certified wood — a resource vital to the forest products industry.
• The forest industry annually generates $16.3 billion and employs 77,000 people in Michigan.
• The state’s nationally-recognized wildfire suppression efforts have, over the last five years, saved natural resources, homes and businesses — including more than 2,100 structures.

Tourism

Michigan tourism contributes $17.7 billion to the state economy. While growing, the tourism sector still accounts for less than 1 percent of Michigan’s $300-billion plus economy. The Pure Michigan campaign described in article The Pure Michigan effect: 3.2 million out-of-state visitors, $1 billion economic impact has a significant impact on the Michigan economy.

• $17.7 billion dollar tourism sector, 81% leisure $13.1 billion, 19% business trips $4.6 billion
• 3.2 million out-of-state visitors spent $6.8 billion, in-state spent $6.2 billion
• Two million of those visitors came from the Great Lakes region; the other 1.2 million came from more distant states.
• 96 million travelers visited Michigan in 2010
• 2011 tourism accounted for nearly 200,000 jobs and generated $995 million in state tax revenue

 Personal Aircraft

We’re definitely NOT talking about Commercial Aviation that generates revenues, taxes, and related jobs, only the personal hobby, sport, recreational use segment. The discussion is NOT about:

• The 18 Michigan airports with commercial service, passengers, freight, and FBOs that make each of these airports a self-supporting viable business concern.
• Some of the rural counties out of all 83 total counties in Michigan, some that rely on small airport services and that are supported by the local needs and requirements.
• The fact that the 18 economically viable airports have easily measurable, quantifiable and demonstrable metrics regarding commercial activities, related tax revenues and related jobs, passengers, and freight operations, and operate for the good of the community.

The discussion IS about:

• 1d2 with a shrinking demographic of several dozen hangar renters that is still declining fast, that has no passengers, no freight, no FBOs, and is strictly a personal use hobby, sport, recreational venue only. There are 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2.
• 1d2 is one of a total of 235 airports minus the 18 commercially supported viable businesses = 217 airports that accommodate personal hobby, sport, recreational use, many exclusively for personal hobby, sport, recreational use only, 95 of which are funded by the FAA NPIAS.
• Michigan has several State owned airports on life support that should be self-supporting NOT funded by the taxpayers.
• Michigan ridiculously has almost as many airports as California!
• There is no positive impact and there are no meaningful metrics, no easily measurable, quantifiable, or demonstrable key performance indicators that support any positive contribution of personal hobby, sport, recreational use at any Michigan airports! It’s a big boondoggle perpetrated by special interests and lobbyists to trick the taxpayers behind the scenes and obscure the real costs coming out of taxpayers pockets.

Even responsible airmen and industry subject matter experts (SMEs) see the waste and abuse of allocation of funds. It is quite easy to see as there are 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2 that can absorb all 1d2 activities!

Here is the number of registered aircraft in Wayne County and and its nearby neighbors. The 10 Counties shown contain 40.58% of the States aircraft, and also contain 51.9% of State Population There are 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2 with huge amounts of excess capacity to support 3265 planes of which 963 are for personal hobby, sport, recreational use only. Many of these are these airports that only support personal hobby, sport, recreational use, such as 1d2! Since 1d2 is in a densely populated are surrounded by schools it can never be expanded to support the B-I category planes as MDOT has it classified and intended 1d2 as.

Area	Registered MI aircraft	Percent of MI aircraft	2010 MI population	FAA 29.5% Personal	One in 'n' owns a plane
Michigan	8046	100.00%	9,883,640	2374	4,164
Oakland	1001	12.44%	1,202,362	295	4,072
Wayne	622	7.73%	1,820,584	183	9,922
Washtenaw	491	6.10%	344,791	145	2,380
Livingston	246	3.06%	180,967	73	2,494
Ingham	219	2.72%	280,895	65	4,348
Jackson	214	2.66%	160,248	63	2,538
Macomb	192	2.39%	840,978	57	14,848
Lenawee	141	1.75%	99,892	42	2,402
Monroe	121	1.50%	152,021	36	4,259
Hillsdale	18	0.22%	46,688	5	8,792
Total:	3265	40.58%	5,129,426	963	5,326
Percent of total:	40.58%		51.90%

Here is the pic of the current taxpayer funded disaster!

22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2, 15 of the 22 will receive 51.4% of the FAA NIASP 2017 – 2012 Allocated Budget to the State of Michigan

There are 22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2, 7 of the airports will not get any Federal funding, the other 15 airports get a lot of Federal funding. These 15 nearby airports, that is only 6.4% of all 235 Michigan MASP airports that get FAA funding will receive $365,600,480.00 or 51.4% of the total FAA NPIAS $714,881,838.00budget allocated to the entire State of Michigan. There is such an enormous glut of airports and capacity within 50 miles of 1d2, and is so obvious that there is no longer any reason for taxpayers to continue to pay for a personal hobby, sport, recreational airstrip such as 1d2 any longer.

The FAA NPIAS totals do NOT include other proceeds from State of Michigan including fuel taxes or other tax revenues diverted to MDOT to support these 235 airports either, the costs keep increasing and taxpayer keeps paying more and more on top of Federal dollars!

Number of Registered Michigan Aircraft that benefit from $714, 881,838.00 FAA NIPAS 2017 -2012 Budget

With such a large budget allocation it is important to look the total number of aircraft that use this extensive network of 235 Michigan MASP airports that are critical to the national infrastructure.

Based on the FAA Aircraft Registration by State/County, there are only 8046 total registered aircraft in Michigan. This includes all:

• type 1 individual (personal)
• type 2 Partnership (clubs)
• type 3 Corporation
• type 4 Co-owner
• type 5 Government
• type 8 + 9 Other

The largest single segment of these aircraft are for “personal” (hobby, sport, recreational) use, but there is no way to separate these out from the supplied data. Special interest groups lump the stats all together to hide the real stats of personal use that goes along for a “free ride” on the back of commercial based taxes. Taxpayers are being duped into paying the whole bill for personal hobby, sport, recreational use without really knowing where the money comes from and where it is really being used. This is by design by the lobbying and special interests in Lansing and Washnington.

In the 10 of the 83 counties surrounding and including Wayne county there are 3,265 registered aircraft, or 40.58% of total 8,046 registered aircraft in Michigan. The 11 counties contain 51.90% of the state population. That means that half of the State population (5,129,426) in 11 counties are paying for 40.58% (3,265) of the aircraft including any personal, hobby, sport, recreational use.

This amounts to a per plane subsidy of $88,849.34 per registered plane over the State of Michigan! Or on a per plane subsidy of $111,975.64 per airplane over the 10 counties mentioned.

Of course, any estimates could be more accurate but special interests lump all aircraft together under the all-inclusive blanket term General Aviation to hide personal hobby, sport, recreational use. As previously stated 18 Michigan airports and their associated aircraft that carry passengers or freight, have FBOs, create jobs, etc. are obviously gladly and generously supported across Michigan.

Need “Pay to Play” for All Personal Hobby, Recreational, Sport Activities

FAA Estimates are that generally personal use aviation is 30%, at 1d2 it is 100% personal hobby, sport, recreational. Like every other hobby, people need to pay for their own enjoyment. Flying is no exception. Taxpayers are sick and tired of paying for it, especially since much of it secretly forced on the unsuspecting public via confidential revenues loopholes and special interest hand-outs. The general public naturally supports any commercial airports that contribute and generate taxes, jobs, and revenue for the state. 1D2 does NOT contribute anything back to the community!

Back in 2013 there a movement to regulate GA activities with user fees. The reason to not implement the idea was a weak excuse regarding the lack of infrastructure. If it not worth investing to  measure, monitor, regulate, and fund, then it’s not worth having. There is no reason or excuse now, its almost 5 years later and there are answers and solutions to the objections previously raised. Again, that effort to get ‘users to pay‘ for ‘what they use‘ was hiding behind commercial aviation that has nothing to with personal, hobby, sport, recreational aviation, and excuses about creating new infrastructure. Here are  Pay to play letter 1, Pay to Play letter 2 that had estimates of $100.00 user fees back in 2013. In 2017 commercially viable infrastructure exists that could scale to state and even national level available now. The E-ZPass Group, is one such solution to the problem.

It should be clear that “fuel taxes” alone do NOT provide adequate funding for personal, hobby, sport, recreational flying. and the millions of dollars that it takes to maintain a complex network of airports dedicated to personal use like 1d2.

The mission of the E-ZPass Group is to enable E-ZPass members and affiliated toll operators to provide the public with a seamless, accurate, interoperable electronic method of paying tolls and fees while preserving and enhancing the E-ZPass program. Their vision is to become the preeminent toll collection program that advances interoperability throughout North America. Today the E-ZPass Program is the largest, most successful interoperable toll collection program anywhere in the world consisting of 38 agencies in 16 states, servicing more than 18 million accounts, 30 million tags and the collection of over $8 billion dollars in electronic toll revenues.

This would enable “Pay to Play” for personal hobby, sport, recreational flying. Additionally this methodlology would pinpoint actual usage statistics based on airport start and end points, time to destination, actual hours/miles flown to assist in scheduled maintenance, violations of unregistered aircraft, etc. Ultimately merging toll with transponder and other ATC data will provide a complete reckoning of any aircraft and where they have been in 3D space to determine actual usage.

Using modern IT technology available now Big Data on the Cloud could eliminate the relative anonymity, ambiguity, and inaccurate estimates of aircraft operations, and provide full accountability, including financial and operational responsibility throughout the Federal Aviation National Plan and at the individual State level. No more guessing or fake bloated estimates, or hand waving about non-existing ops counts or pilot / aircraft or airport utilization hours.

Currently there is NO real usage data as “Airport Registers” are completely optional and do NOT qualify as any real measure of utilization. I would even think that they are padded to show more activity in some cases and less in other cases.

If the State of Michigan cannot invest and utilize existing technology such as  E-ZPass Group to gather actual usage to then monitor, measure, and adjust, it just isn’t worth it to continue to maintain and allocate taxpayer funds at all.

Changes in Aviation Activity Are Reflected in
Reduced Capacity Concerns

Another study by the U.S. GAO – Airport Funding: Changes in Aviation Activity Are Reflected in Reduced Capacity Concerns [April 2015]

Is summarized here:

• General Aviation (GA) has declined in activity, as measured by the number of GA aircraft operations and hours flown, due to pervasive economic factors.
• FAA projects that only 6 commercial airports will be capacity constrained in 2020 compared to 41 in the 2004-2015 projection
• The overall improved capacity situation is also reflected in reduced estimates of future airport-development costs that are eligible for federal grants.
• Aviation activity in general in the United States experienced a decline since operations peaked in 2007 and continues in a downward spiral
• The report notes failed airport privatization efforts including third party management companies that is exposed in another study by the AIRPORT PRIVATIZATION: Limited Interest despite FAA’s Pilot Program, shows extremely limited interest.
• Population shift shows major decline. GA activity has declined since 2007, particularly affecting airports that rely on general aviation activity for a large share of their revenue.
• An MIT study that examined trends for GA operations at U.S. airports with air- traffic control towers indicated that total GA operations dropped 35 percent. According to the MIT study, the number of annual hours flown by GA pilots, as estimated by FAA, has also decreased over the past decade.
• Unlike commercial service aviation, GA operators are not required to report flight activity to FAA. To have some idea of the activity, FAA estimates GA flight hours based on estimates derived from its annual survey of GA operators and the Part 135 Activity Survey. We reported in 2012 that the GA survey has long suffered from methodological and conceptual limitations, even with FAA’s efforts to improve it over the years.

Airport Privatization Failure

The Congressional Research Service performed a study – Airport Privatization: Issues and Options for Congress, by  Rachel Y. Tang, Analyst in Transportation and Industry dated February 3, 2016. It notes that privatization in general has failed, and partial privatization has also failed. Many believe that this is due in no small part to third part operators that are financially motivated, bloated payrolls, exaggerated Ops, and no real importance/relevance to the community, hostile to communities and local neighborhoods, etc.

Much the same conclusion is echoed in another U.S. GAO report – Airport Privatization: Limited Interest despite FAA’s Pilot Program.

Surplus Capacity, Declining Pilot Population,
Shrinking Demand, Rising Cost . . .

All key performance indicators are declining, and very rapidly, more rapidly that anyone could have imagined. It’s time to eliminate and start shutting down unused infrastructure that won’t even have any users in the near-term projected future!

It is time to start closing down facilities like 1d2 that will fade in dis-use and irrelevance instead of letting taxpayers keep footing the bill for absolutely no reason.

The long term trend will only speed up as there will be minimal pilots with minimal demand for aircraft and minimal demand for airports such as 1d2!

Typical New Aircraft with Technology Safety Features

In 1946 Piper was making as many as 50 J-3 Cubs a day. Recently the new Piper Aircraft Company sold less than that number in the entire first quarter. With an average price around the mid to high six figures it is no wonder. Another typical new, safe, 4 Seater, Cirrus SR22 as pictured in the MIT article Unfriendly skies: Piston engine aircraft pose a significant health threat, has a lot of modern technology and safety features.

The cost of a new Cirrus SR22 starts around $539,900.00. Adding a few desirable options like air conditioning ($26,900.00) the total cost gets larger. The 2017 Cirrus pricelist provides more details. Even used planes are expensive hobby toys.

• 2017 SR22 G3 $762,900.00 (with air-conditioning!)
• 2012 SR22 G3 $455,00.00
• 2007 SR22 G3 $285,00.00

The days of the old family Piper Cub are gone. The new era airplane is here and it is not part of 1d2. The point is that this ‘typical’ new  modern type aircraft have nothing to do with 1d2, local jobs, or anything else that helps the Michigan taxpayer. The average age of aircraft at 1d2 is from 35 – 55 years old, you can’t get spare parts for many of these old planes anymore.

Is 1d2 Critical Infrastructure? No Not Really! Never Has Been!

Historically, and still today, there should be the realization by most that 1d2 has never been considered ‘critical infrastructure’ in any terms, regarding revenue, jobs, taxes, or anything else contributed back to the community.

Canton Observer Monday, February 4, 1991

The Canton Observer article stated that the 1d2 airport, at Lilley and Joy roads in Canton, is classified as a Reliever airport for Metropolitan Detroit Airport (DTW), but that Wayne county doesn’t place any emphasis on that roll at all.

Mike Duggan, the then deputy Wayne County executive stated “As far as we’re concerned it doesn’t make a difference.” Duggan goes on to say that “As a matter of air traffic, it is not important to the county.” He also stated that “It’s not a county issue. If this issue is tearing apart people, that airport isn’t worth it ”

Canton officials at the time agreed, including Tom Yack who contended that it’s unwise to use tax dollars to maintain a recreational airport.

The PCCS schools’ legislative liaison, estimated that the if 26 industrial sites were located at 1d2, the total tax benefit would be almost a half million dollars. Less abatement of 50 percent, revenue would be a quarter million dollars. That revenue at the time would allow the school district to hire nine teachers without adding one child. Plymouth-Canton School Board members noted that that if 1d2 is State owned it is  NOT in the tax base any longer.

Canton Eagle, Vol. 48, Number 7, Week of Feb. 18-24, 1993

The Canton Eagle article reported on the State of Michigan MDOT purchase of 1d2 for over $4m from owner that paid $3.1m – the State Representative at the time, Jerry Vorva (R 20th district) stated  “The only people this sales serves are the owners and bureaucrats making work for themselves. We don’t need a public run airport. Private is fine, but not public.”

In 2017 and it is still crystal clear that 1d2 is a waste of tax payer dollars drained from any source, and is now an almost 25 year old failed experiment. The taxpayer waste reinforces the fact that 1d2 was never critical, is no longer needed or wanted in the community, is not and never has been considered critical infrastructure or economically viable except by MDOT employees.

A $2.19 million dollar MICHIGAN STATE BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM – FIVE-YEAR AIRPORT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CIP) FY-2016 to FY-2021 for 1d2 is another outrageous slap in the taxpayers face!

Conclusion

With  22 airports within 50 miles of 1d2 Canton-Plymouth Mettetal airstrip that receive 51.4% of the total MDOT/FAA NPIAS 2017-2021 budget for the entire State of Michigan. This amounts to $365,600,480.00 out of $714,881,838.00. With rapidly decreasing personal pilot/aircraft numbers and demographics, the surrounding 22 airports can easily absorb any and all activities from 1d2, including funding!

There is absolutely NO reason for taxpayers to be forced to continue to pay for 1d2, a run-down personal hobby, sport, recreational venue. Split the funding between YIP-Willow Run, ARB-Ann Arbor, and Y47-New Hudson for the good of all taxpayers.

New – Updates, References, etc.

Protest over Westland library layoffs continue
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2017/05/12/westland-librarian-layoff-protest/320704001/

Household Debt Makes a Comeback in the U.S. – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/business/dealbook/household-debt-united-states.html?_r=0

Household debt tops 2008 peak ahead of financial crisis
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/05/17/household-debt/101774626/

Reference

References and Further reading.

Willow Run Airport > Home
http://www.willowrunairport.com/
With three Fixed Based Operator (FBO) locations to serve you, Willow Run Airport can provide all the services necessary for your flight operations. Fuel, deicing, aircraft cleaning and maintenance, catering, hotel reservations, and rental cars are just a few of the services available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

General Aviation – If flying is your passion, Willow Run Airport is your destination.  Not too big, and not too small, but just right for your flying needs.  With a 24 hour FAA Tower and multiple runways including an all weather ILS runway Willow Run can meet your needs.  Go to the “Flight Planning” page for information on FBO and other services offered at the airport. YIP is perfect and can easily absorb all of 1d2 operations and funding!

Public Input gathered on Detroit Metro Airport master plan
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2016/04/28/input-gathered-detroit-metro-airport-master-plan/83681144/
The meeting Thursday followed a similar one in Belleville this week for an update on the Willow Run Airport master plan. That site, which serves general aviation, cargo and corporate jet markets, also is run by the Wayne County Airport Authority and hasn’t been revised since 2006, officials said.

Improving Airport Funding to Meet the Needs of Passengers | Tax Foundation
http://taxfoundation.org/article/improving-airport-funding-meet-needs-passengers
In 2013, the FAA’s AIP awarded $3 billion in grants, of which $540 million went to projects specifically marked for general aviation airports – that is, airports that do not regularly serve commercial passenger traffic and instead serve private planes

State may help save City Airport – Crain’s Detroit Business
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120513/SUB01/305139970/state-may-help-save-city-airport
The state took ownership of two failing general aviation facilities — Romeo State Airport and Canton-Plymouth-Mettetal Airport in Canton Township — and contracted management of them to private companies. “The state would rather not own airports,” said Mike Trout, executive administrator for the state Office of Aeronautics and director of the Michigan Aeronautics Commission.

Wayne County had nation’s second largest population loss last year
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2016/03/23/wayne-county-had-nations-second-largest-population-loss-last-year/82137364/

Detroit population rank is lowest since 1850
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2016/05/19/detroit-population-rank-lowest-since/84574198/

Volume of abandoned homes ‘absolutely terrifying’
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/special-reports/2015/05/14/detroit-abandoned-homes-volume-terrifying/27237787/

Up close: 8 most abandoned neighborhoods in Detroit
http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2014/06/06/up-close-8-most-abandoned-neighborhoods-in-detroit/

Census 2010 News | U.S. Census Bureau Delivers Final State 2010 Census Population Totals for Legislative Redistricting – U.S. Census Bureau
https://www.census.gov/2010census/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn123.html
Map: Change in Population 2000-2010
https://www.census.gov/2010census/news/img/cb11cn123_us_perchange_2010map.jpg

Westland library cuts five librarian positions
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2017/03/08/westland-library-librarian-layoffs/98927926/

Michigan’s population loss surprising only because more people didn’t leave state
http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/michigans-population-loss-surprising-only-because-more-people-didnt-leave-state/

Anatomy of Detroit’s Decline – Interactive Feature – NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/17/us/detroit-decline.html?_r=0

25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/25-facts-about-the-fall-of-detroit-that-will-leave-you-shaking-your-head

Six grueling demographic indicators of Detroit’s decline (and some pictures)
https://familyinequality.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/detroits-decline/

10 Things They Won’t Tell You About the Flint Water Tragedy. But I Will. | MICHAEL MOORE
http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint

Lead in Flint, Michigan’s Water Shows the Cost of Undermining Regulations | Economic Intelligence | US News
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/articles/2016-01-28/lead-in-flint-michigans-water-shows-the-cost-of-undermining-regulations

People News – The people’s newspaper
http://www.thepeoplenews.com/October09/
Reprint of USAToday article – Feds Keep Little-used Airports in Business: Local subsidies help private airplane owners avoid landing fees and passenger taxes, by Thomas Frank USA Today September 17, 2009. Excellent discussion of taxpayers getting stuck footing the bill paying for airports used only by personal aircraft.
(pdf): https://close1d2.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Feds-Keep-Little-used-Airports-in-Bus-final.pdf

Flint water crisis could cost U.S. $300 billion http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/03/05/flint-water-crisis-could-cost-us-300-billion/81359834/

Michigan Taxpayers Face Paying Millions In Legal Fees Over Flint Crisis
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michigan-governor-flint-legal-fees_us_56dfad1be4b0b25c91801ecc

Gas tax hike set to put Michigan’s rate in U.S. top 5
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/28/gas-tax-hike-set-put-michigans-rate-us-top/95940666/

2017 brings higher fuel, vehicle taxes in Michigan – Crain’s Detroit Business
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20161231/NEWS01/161239994/2017-brings-higher-fuel-vehicle-taxes-in-michigan

Michigan Corporations to Pay $0 in Taxes This Year, Despite Crises in Flint and Detroit
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/19/michigan-corporations-pay-0-taxes-year-despite-crises-flint-and-detroit

FAA Clarifies Fuel Tax Rule, Municipalities To Lose Needed Funds
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/08/375799632/faa-clarifies-fuel-tax-rule-municipalities-to-lose-needed-funds
Fuel tax revenue can no longer go to roads and schools and hurts local taxpayers.

Michigan sales tax: Where does the revenue go? And what could an increase mean for road funding?
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/michigan_sales_tax_where_does.html#incart_river_default

U.S. household debt near 2008 levels, Federal Reserve report says – UPI.com
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/02/17/US-household-debt-near-record-levels-Federal-Reserve-report-says/3411487331520/

American Families Are Trillions of Dollars in Debt. Here’s What They Owe, in Five Charts.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_united_states_of_debt/2016/05/the_rise_of_household_debt_in_the_u_s_in_five_charts.html

Auto Loan Delinquencies Climbs North, Highest Since 2008 Financial Crisis
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/198002/20170217/auto-loan-delinquencies-climbs-north-highest-since-2008-financial-crisis.htm

Failed Wayne County jail still costs $1 million a month
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2015/05/23/costs-adding-fail-jail/27849475/

Wayne County’s $200 Million Debt for Jail Fiasco Audited by IRS – Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-17/wayne-county-s-200-million-debt-for-jail-fiasco-audited-by-irs

Unfunded Pension Liability Data for Wayne County, MI
https://www.opendatanetwork.com/entity/0500000US26163/Wayne_County_MI/finance.michigan_pensions.unfunded_pension_liability?year=2015
The unfunded pension liability of Wayne County, MI was $845,796,103 in 2015.

Improving Airport Funding to Meet the Needs of Passengers – Tax Foundation
https://taxfoundation.org/improving-airport-funding-meet-needs-passengers

Michigan state budget and finances – Ballotpedia
https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_state_budget_and_finances

How High Are Property Taxes in Your State? – Tax Foundation – Tax Foundation
https://taxfoundation.org/how-high-are-property-taxes-your-state

Michigan Property Tax Calculator | SmartAsset.com
https://smartasset.com/taxes/michigan-property-tax-calculator

50-State Property Tax Comparison Study | Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
http://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/other/50-state-property-tax-comparison-study-0
107 page details report in pdf format

Detroit Has The Second Highest Residential Property Taxes In The Nation, Says Study
http://www.dailydetroit.com/2016/06/16/detroit-second-highest-residential-property-taxes-nation/
Also highest effective property tax rates on $1 million commercial property in the nation.

Michigan counties ranked by violent crime rate | MLive.com
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/michigan_counties_ranked_by_vi.html

Michigan crime rates and statistics – NeighborhoodScout
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/crime/

Civil engineers say fixing infrastructure will take $4.6 trillion – Mar. 9, 2017
http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/09/news/infrastructure-report-card/

Michigan Airport Home to No Planes Or Hangars Receives Over $150K A Year In Tax Dollars [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/18433

GOLDEN HAMMER: At FAA, bigger budgets for less work lead to waste
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/20/golden-hammer-at-faa-bigger-budgets-for-less-work-/

Taxpayers lost $5 million on three partners’ dreams for beans and airplanes
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/taxpayers_lost_5_million_on_th.html

National Taxpayers Union – NTU Joins CAGW-led Coalition Letter Warning FAA Against Wasteful Spending
http://www.ntu.org/governmentbytes/detail/ntu-joins-cagw-led-coalition-letter-warning-faa-against-wasteful-spending

Detroit’s Spruce Goose: City Airport [Mackinac Center]
https://www.mackinac.org/detroit-spruce-goose-city-airport

Wayne County taxes already too high
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2016/08/09/wayne-county-taxes-already-high/88503808/

Consequences and public funding — General Aviation News
https://generalaviationnews.com/2013/02/18/consequences-and-public-funding/
honest recognition about wasteful funding from industry insider

FAA Registry – Aircraft – State / County Inquiry
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/statecounty_inquiry.aspx
Stats by State and County

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) – Airports
https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/

 AERO – MASP [MDOT Michigan Airport System Plan (MASP 2008)]
http://www.michigan.gov/aero/0,4533,7-145-61367_78280—,00.html

MDOT State Airport System Plan | Project Site [MASP 2017 ?]
http://mdotmasp.com/

Airport Improvement Program (AIP) – Airports
https://www.faa.gov/airports/aip/

General Aviation Airports Reports – Airports
https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/ga_study/
General Aviation Airports: A National Asset (ASSET 1)
In-Depth Review of 497 Unclassified Airports (ASSET 2)

Changes ahead for Willow Run Airport: Runway expansion in 10-year, $182M plan
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/changes-ahead-for-willow-run-airport-runway-expansion-in-10-year-182m-plan/

Help Save Willow Run – Move 1d2 GA aircraft to this wonderful facility that’s only 11 miles (7nm) away and has far superior facilities!

Willow Run – General Aviation
http://www.willowrunairport.com/GeneralAviation.aspx

The First Class Airport in the area:  With three Fixed Based Operator (FBO) locations to serve you, Willow Run Airport can provide all the services necessary for your flight operations. Fuel, deicing, aircraft cleaning and maintenance, catering, hotel reservations, and rental cars are just a few of the services available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

General Aviation – If flying is your passion, Willow Run Airport is your destination.  Not too big, and not too small, but just right for your flying needs.  With a 24 hour FAA Tower and multiple runways including an all weather ILS runway Willow Run can meet your needs.  Go to the “Flight Planning” page for information on FBO and other services offered at the airport. YIP is the perfect location and can easily absorb all of 1d2 operations and could really use its funding!

Save Rosie’s Factory: Historic Willow Run Bomber Plant | DONATE NOW, Save The Willow Run Bomber Plant at Willow Run
http://www.savethebomberplant.org/

THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN Air Show – 2017 Air Show at Willow Run
http://yankeeairmuseum.org/airshow/

Yankee Air Museum | Where History Takes Flight at Willow Run
http://yankeeairmuseum.org/

Willow Run Airport – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Run_Airport

U.S. GAO – Airport Funding: FAA’s and Industry’s Cost Estimates for Airport Development
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-504T
AO-17-504T: Published: Mar 23, 2017. Publicly Released: Mar 23, 2017.

U.S. GAO – Airport Funding: Changes in Aviation Activity Are Reflected in Reduced Capacity Concerns
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-498T
GAO-15-498T: Published: Apr 23, 2015. Publicly Released: Apr 23, 2015.

U.S. GAO – Airport Funding: Aviation Industry Changes Affect Airport Development Costs and Financing
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-658T
GAO-14-658T: Published: Jun 18, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2014.

List of airports in Michigan – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Michigan
Show an excess of airports to match demand and places an unfair burden on taxpayers that don’t use most of the airports that only serve others personal, hobby, sport, recreational use.