Gary/Chicago International Airport has received a clean bill of health from the State Board of Accounts, with a recent inspection of its financial books showing no material weaknesses or deficiencies.
The audit, which covers the time from Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2008, comes at a critical time for the airport. The airport authority is asking the state's Distressed Unit Appeals Board for relief from state-imposed property tax caps. It also plans to ask the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority for money to expand.
The State Board of Accounts found none of the questionable spending or misused funds discovered at other units of Gary government.
"We all know some of the issues the state has had with Northwest Indiana when it comes to being fiscally responsible," said Airport Director Chris Curry on Thursday. "And I think an audit issued by the state showing the airport is working in a responsible manner can only allow us to gain credibility with the region."
A final report on the airport from the city of Gary's fiscal monitor was also delivered on Thursday, and it calls for the city, counties and state to come up with new, regionally based funding for the airport. Currently, Gary taxpayers fund 50 percent of the airport's operations with additional revenue coming from airport fees and a small slice of passenger charges at Chicago airports.
The report also stated that although regional stakeholders often say privatizing the airport could solve its problems, that prospect is "unlikely" in the short-term. Instead, it recommended the airport look at contracting some individual tasks out to private companies, such as field operations, maintenance and fire protection.
As to the airport's current fire protection, the fiscal monitor has recommended the airport shoulder some of the $487,000 in annual salaries paid to firefighters. Currently, all 12 Gary firefighters manning the airport firehouse are on the city's payroll.
Problems with public officials mishandling money have been legion in Gary in recent years. A State Board of Accounts audit of City Hall finances released in September showed it was more than $4 million overdrawn on its accounts. It also found the city had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable food, travel and personal expenses for city officials.
In the same month, the State Board of Accounts released an audit showing $89,468 missing from an extracurricular activities fund at Roosevelt High School. This month, a former school treasurer was charged with stealing the money.
Curry credited the airport's clean audit to the airport's two-person finance staff headed by finance manager Nicole Thorn and his department heads' responsible management of their respective departments.
The audit also gave a clean bill of health to the airport's handling of federal grants, which mainly come from the Federal Aviation Administration. The airport has spent almost $18.5 million in federal funds in the past two years, much of it on the airport expansion project, according to the audit.
