Aircraft Owners Want Tax Exemption Bill Passed!

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During its public meeting in November 2007, the Airport Board claimed that one of the economic benefits of an airport would be the tangible property taxes paid by aircraft owners to Oldham County. Indeed, the Kentucky Department of Revenue estimates that local governments collect about $2 million annually from property taxes imposed on privately owned aircraft. So, aircraft owners may actually help bring in needed revenue to Oldham County coffers. Or, maybe not.

In 2006 and 2007, Kentucky law makers introduced legislation designed to exempt private aircraft owners from paying property taxes on their airplanes! With a stroke of a pen, legislators would have cut $2 million in tax revenues from local governments! Fortunately, the proposed legislation died in committee. However, the same legislation was drafted again for 2008, and introduced on March 3rd, as House Bill 705.

If an aircraft taxation exemption bill passes, noncommercial aircraft will be removed from the personal property base, and local governments will have to figure out how to make up the difference, or reduce spending. Counties will have no option but to make up the difference. Here’s how it can be done:

According to the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS 132.010) allows local governments to adjust the compensating property tax rate to make up any reduction in taxable property, including personal property. That would most likely mean an increase in the personal property tax rate on other taxable property (cars, trucks, motorboats, for example), to make up the loss in tax revenue. In short, WE will make up the tax revenue lost when private aircraft are no longer taxed!

No one likes to pay taxes. Auto collectors and boating enthusiasts would like a tax exemption as well. So, how do we exempt one group without exempting others? Should it be determined by who has the better lobby?

The aircraft taxation exemption has strong support from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Kentucky Aviation Association, and private pilots. Will they get this legislation passed? Is this smart legislation when the state is experiencing a $900 million dollar shortfall over the next two years? One thing that’s certain, if it passes, you and I will cover the deficit.

Perhaps it’s time to call your state representatives, Ernie Harris and David Osborne. Let them know how you feel about giving private aircraft owners a “special” interest group status, at the expense of other taxpayers.

The Economic Cost of Aircraft Noise

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This is the beginning of a series of articles on the economic impact of aircraft noise.  While our local government appears to be preoccupied with how much money an airport might generate, it will probably not factor in this cost.  However, NOA believes you have a right to know all the “hidden” costs of an airport.  And, there is definitely a cost related to aircraft noise. 

Regardless of which site is eventually selected for an airport, there will be Oldham County citizens who will live directly under the path of departing aircraft.  Some will live as close as a mile from the airport boundary!  And, aircraft departures will occur around-the-clock.  Make no mistake about it; there will be families who must cope with the constant sound of aircraft noise.  To these families, the economic cost of an airport will go beyond paying more taxes.  So, before we build an airport, let’s make a concerted effort to understand the true relationship between noise and the possible economic impact it may have on the citizens of Oldham County.  To do that, we must first determine what an acceptable level of noise is. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses the (decibel day-night level) DNL metric for assessing the noise in environmental assessments.  The FAA recommends a minimum criterion value of 65 DNL to assess impact in residential areas (FAA, 2000). And, they do not differentiate between urban, suburban or rural areas. 

In its assessment of noise annoyance, the consulting firm Schomer & Associates conducted extensive research to determine an acceptable noise threshold, based on a more universally recognized definition of aircraft noise, and the environment where one lives.  Doctor Paul Schomer is a nationally recognized expert in acoustics noise control.  His research concluded: 

1.  Nearly all agencies and boards, standards setting bodies, and international organizations use a DNL criterion value of 55 dB as the threshold for defining noise impact in urban residential areas. In fact, of this large number of agencies, boards, standards setting bodies, and international organizations, only the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration suggest a criterion value for DNL that is higher than 55 dB. 

2. The policies of FAA/DOD were developed in the 1970’s and earlier.  In contrast, most of the agencies and boards, standard setting bodies, and international organizations have established their policies after 1995. In particular, the World Health Organization recommendations (WHO, 1999) are based on over 25 years more worldwide research into noise effects than are the earlier FAA/DOD policies. 

3. Significant evidence exists to suggest that aircraft noise is more annoying than is road traffic noise for the same DNL level. 

4. No single DNL criterion is equally applicable to all residential situations and all types of residential communities. A sizeable number of agencies and boards, standards setting bodies, and international organizations recommend a DNL criterion value that is less than 55 dB as the threshold for defining noise impact in sparse suburban and rural residential areas. Rural areas require a criterion that is 10 dB lower than the criterion used in normal urban areas. 

5. For residential areas and other similarly noise sensitive land uses, noise impact becomes significant in urban areas when the DNL exceeds 55 dB. In suburban areas where the population density is between 1250 and 5000 inhabitants per square mile, noise impact becomes significant when the DNL exceeds 50 dB. And in rural areas where the population density is less than 1250 inhabitants per square mile, noise impact becomes significant when the DNL exceeds 45 dB. 

Source:  A White Paper: ASSESSMENT OF NOISE ANNOYANCE, April 22, 2001, Paul Schomer, Ph.D., P.E. Schomer and Associates, Inc. Champaign, IL 61821 

Clearly, the FAA is willing to let you be exposed to a larger degree of noise than what is acceptable to most other agencies.  But, why is it so important to determine the true threshold between acceptable and unacceptable noise exposure? 

That, my friends has to do with determining what amount of noise will distract your children, while they study at school, the amount of noise that will impact hospital patients during their recovery, and the amount of noise that will wake you up in the middle of the night!   

Not convinced?  Well, you will have to wait until the next article to see more evidence!