Florence airport will pay back feds for 25 years

June 22--FLORENCE, S.C. -- The Florence Regional Airport and the federal government have been adversaries for the past year or so, dueling in court over an alleged overpayment of rent by the government to the airport.

For the next decade and beyond, they'll be partners.

In an agreement that settled the lawsuit brought by the federal government against "Pee Dee Regional Airport," the airport will be making monthly payments on a payback note to the feds for the next 25 years, and the feds will be making monthly (rent) payments to the airport for at least the next 10.

Both sides gave in a little, settling the year-old suit in which the U.S. government claimed the airport owed it $1,074,732.79 in rent overpayment for a Transportation Security Administration office at the airport. The airport denied real complicity in the manner, saying the rates charged were stated clearly in a lease the government signed and renewed twice.

The airport will repay a face amount of $905,749, or $168,983 less than the federal claim. And the feds signed a new lease at a substantially lower rate than the $18,400/per month fee they were paying, which triggered the suit. The feds new rate: $1,443.75 per month, or $17,325 per year. The rate per square foot -- $25 for a 693-square foot space -- is still high by Florence standards, but not as high before. The old fed rate was estimated at $221 per square foot.

The airport has already sent the feds a check for $100,000. Another is due before Sept. 5, then a 25-year note, by which the airport will pay the government $3,163.87 per month, kicks in.

Airport Interim Director Eddie Gunn said Thursday that the payments would not create any fiscal problems for the airport.

"We don't anticipate in changes," Gunn said. "We'll continue to operate as we always have."

The airport is paying 2.5 percent interest on its repayment note. The interest will bring the total payment to $1,149,161, more than the original suit asked for, but over a much longer period of time.

The airport authority board approved the settlement at its meeting Wednesday night.

Copyright 2012 - Florence Morning News, S.C.