Kootenai County commissioners approve tower support fee for Coeur d'Alene Airport

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County commissioners approved a landing fee to support the year-round air traffic control tower at the Coeur d’Alene Airport.

The $10 tower support fee will be billed per landing on aircraft weighing 8,000 pounds or more. There are no other changes to the existing landing fee rates. Aircraft that qualify for existing exemptions and fire suppression aircraft in active firefighting status won’t be billed the tower support fee. 

Commissioners unanimously approved the fee during a brief public hearing Tuesday afternoon. 

“I think it’s reasonable,” said Commissioner Leslie Duncan. 

No community members spoke in favor or against the fee, which is a continuation of a fee approved by commissioners last May. When the $10 landing fee was first implemented, it was to be billed May 1 through Oct. 31 because the control tower operated seasonally. 

The fee that commissioners approved this week reflects that the control tower now operates year-round.