The preliminary approval is the first of two the county would need to get a deal done, but the Legislature appears to be moving on without approving the plan
The 40-year, $150 million proposal to lease Westchester County Airport to a private equity firm appears dead — at least for the remainder of 2016 — but the concept of privatizing the airport is very much alive.
County Executive Rob Astorino and members of the Board of Legislators met Monday to discuss hammering out a plan to solicit bids to privatize the county-owned airport, which would allow the county to take revenue from the airport for its general fund.
"They're not opposed to a public-private partnership at the airport. They want the revenue and let’s find out how we get there,” said Astorino, shortly after meeting with legislators Monday afternoon. “There’s a strong willingness on behalf of the vast majority of board members to move forward with this kind of idea and that’s a good thing.”
In the end, a lack of a request for proposals and the short time frame in which Astorino asked legislators to contemplate both the airport deal with Oaktree Capital Management and the $1.8 billion county budget, was too much. The county executive was counting on $15 million from the deal to shore up his 2017 budget proposal and keep intact his string of six consecutive budgets with flat county property taxes.
“We just weren’t given enough time. The more we asked, the more questions arose,” said board Chairman Mike Kaplowitz, D-Somers, the plan's most vocal critic in the Legislature.
“We have to decide whether we’re interested and who the best operator is to do it and what's in the best interest of the taxpayers of Westchester County,” he added. “We're not confident the bid that’s out there meets that standard.”
Astorino announced the proposal on Nov. 3. A big sticking point in the subsequent discussions was why Astorino did not seek out bidders to run the airport, instead instructing county consultants Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to negotiate solely with Oaktree.
During a meeting with legislators, officials from AvPorts, the private company that has run the airport for nearly 40 years, said they would have made their own bid had they been asked.
Astorino's willingness to put the plan to a bid is also a change from last week, wher he told legislators he would seek bidders with responses due by February, but only if the Legislature first approves the deal with Oaktree. If another bidder is picked, the Legislature would have to reimburse Oaktree for expenses.
That proposal was shot down by legislators, who called it a "non-starter."
If the county does seek out bidders, Oaktree could still bid or the county could decide their current proposal is the right one.
Kaplowitz said the board will move on to broader budget deliberations, discussing additions to the 2017 budget Monday and subtractions on Friday ahead of a planned final vote on Dec. 12.
When announcing the airport privatization plan, Astorino said if legislators did not approve the deal, they would be on the hook for finding $15 million in cuts.
“We have to move on to the 2017 county operating budget," Kaplowitz said. “It’s our charge. We’ll get through the day. Hopefully we'll be as kind to each other as possible.”
Friday, the county also received Federal Aviation Administration preliminary approval, the first of two approvals the agency must give if the airport is to be handed over to a private operators.
