Plans to tackle $10 million worth of deferred maintenance and other work at Groton-New London Airport will resume this summer, but the scope and timing of that work depends on whether a two-year order to suspend aviation fuel taxes ends next month as scheduled, Connecticut Airport Authority officials said Monday. But if the tax suspension deal is extended, it will jeopardize that phased improvement work and call into question the long-term viability of the state’s five general-aviation airports, said Tony Sheridan, chairman of the authority’s Board of Directors. The tax is set to resume on July 1, but at a reduced rate of 15 cents per gallon with the bulk of the revenue funneled to general-aviation airports. That fuel-tax cut, down from about 30 cents a gallon, is expected to drop the CAA’s pre-2023 revenue by about half. Shea said the authority’s general-aviation airport operations budget now operates at a $3.5 million annual deficit, a debt compounded by another $2.1 million in capital infrastructure expenses.
https://theday.com/news/744265/ct-airport-authority-officials-warn-of-tough-decisions-if-fuel-tax-deal-extended/