The Board of Public Works berated airport management yesterday as the panel reluctantly approved a settlement reached with airlines that forgoes $32.2 million in undercharges for terminal rents, construction costs and fees at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The state board said the Maryland Aviation Administration's errors, representing five years of uncollected charges, raises larger questions about the airport's oversight of its multimillion-dollar contracts, such as the one with concessions manager BAA Maryland Inc. now also under scrutiny.
"How can we just leave $32 million on the table?" Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, leading the criticism, demanded of Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari. "Why weren't we more aggressive in making the whole payment stand? ... What fail-safes have you put in place so that this doesn't happen again?"
Franchot also told Porcari to report back on the aviation administration's contract with BAA, to determine if the terminal operator has made progress toward meeting its previously missed revenue and minority-business subcontractor targets. The previous Board of Public Works granted BAA a five-year contract extension, through 2022, at its final December 2006 meeting.
"Was that a bad deal for the state?" Franchot said. "I know the legislature had concerns that the state was not getting the proper return from them."
The deal that leaves out the $32 million comes as Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration is struggling to plug budget deficits by cutting spending, raising taxes and pushing for approval of slots gambling. In particular, the state's Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for airport construction projects, faces a $40 billion backlog in infrastructure improvements.
O'Malley, who sits on the Board of Public Works with Franchot and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, raised few questions, only noting that the errors in calculating charges were made under the previous administration, headed by Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
The additional costs also couldn't come at a worse time for airlines, which are being drained by record fuel prices.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement ratified by the board yesterday, the MAA will collect $25.04 million of the $57.3 million in airline undercharges over the next five years. Southwest Airlines, BWI's largest carrier, has agreed to pay $12.2 million of that sum in exchange for reduced rents and landing fees moving forward. No. 2 AirTran Airways will pay about $2 million.
