Jan. 21--PITTSTON TWP. -- Taxpayers from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties won't be asked to pay the $1 million in design costs for a new traffic control tower at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, the director said.

The airport has been able to secure alternative funding for the tower, which is estimated to cost $15 million, director Barry Centini told the airport board at its monthly meeting Thursday.

"It seems like a small battle that we've won here," Centini said. "What it does is it saves us a good million bucks upfront."

Last month he notified the counties by letter to budget $500,000 each for the design of the tower to replace the existing one. He also advised them that they each must come up with $7.5 million to build the tower proposed for the east side of the main runway.

The Federal Aviation Administration would lease the tower for 20 years and reimburse the counties in full, he added. No such deal is in place yet.

Once the design is done, Centini said, the project will be ready to be bid. "Once we get the bid numbers then we'll negotiate the reimbursable agreement or contract lease package."

The FAA tower in operation now is in the old terminal. That structure will eventually be demolished because the airport is building a new $35 million terminal that is expected to be done by the end of March.

The decision to build the new tower should be made as soon as possible so as to minimize the expense of maintaining the old terminal.

Higher expenses have reduced the airport's net income for December compared to what was generated for the same period last year. Last month the airport had a net income of $26,826. In December 2004, it reported net income of $43,318. For the year, the airport's income was $568,497. In 2004, the figure was $722,714.

The airport fared better on passenger boarding numbers. Enplanements in December were 17,052, up almost 13 percent from the December 2004 count of 15,117.

For the year, enplanements reached 221,348, an almost 10 percent increase from the 2004 total of 201,765.

Passengers who travel at least 50,000 miles annually with any of the airlines serving the airport can participate in a frequent parking program. Eligible travelers can apply for a permit that allows them to park in any of 15 designated spots on the second floor of the parking garage.

Information about the program is available at the airport administration office, the information desk inside the terminal and on the airport's Web site, www.flyavp.com [http://www.flyavp.com].

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7237.