Leesburg Executive Airport Commission Meeting – September 8, 2026
Leesburg Executive Airport Commission Meeting Summary
Date: September 8, 2026 (Note: The meeting transcript indicates August 5, 2026; the summary date follows the instruction provided.)
The commission covered agenda modifications, approval of minutes, new business on aircraft personal property tax, committee updates, operational reports, and a motion to enter closed session for real property discussion.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda modified to hold public session before closed session; motion approved unanimously.
- Meeting minutes from the previous meeting approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were taken during the open session; the public was asked to leave before closed session.
Discussion Items
Personal Property Tax on Aircraft (New Business)
- Commissioner May led discussion on preparing a data-driven presentation for the October Town Council meeting regarding the personal property tax rate on aircraft. A working group (Commissioners May and an unnamed second, plus airport staff Scott Kuhn) will collect economic impact data, regional comparisons, and airport user fees. The goal is to provide council with factual information for their budget summit. Commissioners expressed that the airport already covers its costs and pays property taxes on hangars; they opposed raising the rate, citing risks of driving aircraft to competing airports. The group will also reach out to AOPA for supporting materials.
Control Tower Development (Committee Report)
- A commissioner reported on the Contract Tower Association meeting, noting that accelerated tower funding often results from active lobbying. Recommended considering hiring a lobbyist (e.g., Paul Dorr) to access non-traditional funding sources. Mentioned that Town Council recently accepted $4 million for tower construction, which can be used for the front door and other initial components.
Rules and Regulations Update
- Awaiting outside legal review from the Town Attorney’s office; no further action.
Master Plan and Facility Planning
- Delta Airport Consultants have begun data collection with County economic development personnel and subconsultant Davenport. An update is expected in October.
Government Affairs and Community Engagement
- Reported five new donations for the airport mural project. Friends of Leesburg Public Art estimated project cost between $15,000 and $20,000 for panel delivery and installation.
Operations and Noise Abatement
- Discussed Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) over Middleburg due to the Vice President’s residence. Frequent TFRs impact flight schools and airport operations. Proposed solutions: having tower notify of active TFRs, using the common practice area frequency (122.85) for advisories, and monitoring 121.5. Concerns about long-term viability if TFRs become permanent were raised.
- Operations data from ADS-B showed high activity despite runway closures. Helicopter operations contributed significantly. Noise complaints from Evergreen Meadows, Country Club, and Village Walk were noted, attributed to flight training and circling due to taxi backs.
Runway Rehabilitation Project
- Project progressing smoothly; FBO complimented airport staff for courteous management.
Airport Business Association Report
- No report.
FBO Report
- Complimented runway rehab operations.
Executive Report
- Waiting list opened, 24 new applicants, three hangars printed. Fuel sales strong.
Key Outcomes
- Agenda modified to conduct public session first. Approved unanimously.
- Minutes approved unanimously.
- Working group established for personal property tax presentation: Commissioners May and [unnamed], Scott Kuhn. Target completion by October.
- Closed session motion approved (pursuant to Va. Code § 2.2-3711(A)(3)) to discuss real property interest at the airport. Public was asked to leave.
- Next meeting not specified; likely in October for the personal property tax report.
Date Discrepancy Note: The meeting transcript states the date as August 5, 2026, but the instructions for this summary specified using September 8, 2026. The content reflects the August 5 discussion.
Meeting Transcript
Do you want to talk about the public versus post session? Yeah, I'll do that for the adoption of the agenda. Okay. All right. Call to order 603. Good evening, everybody. It's Wednesday, August 5th, 2026, or the Executive Airport Commission meeting. We have a full quorum. So we'll go ahead and get started. The adoption of agenda. I'm going to propose a motion to uh change the ordering of tonight's agenda. We have members from the public here today. So I would instead of making them get up and leave, go out of the room and then come back later. We'll do the uh non-closed session first, get that all out of the way, and then move into the closed session. And then at that time we'll ask members of the public to that want to lead. Um so do I have uh uh do I have a motion to uh change the agenda motion? I see one second, second. All right, all in favor say aye. Aye. Okay. All right. So it is modified. Next thing on the agenda is the approval of meetings minutes from last month. Are there any proposed changes that it's questions or anything on it? Anyone? Nope. Okay. I have a motion to accept the meeting minutes from last month. One second, all favor say aye. Any opposed, hearing that. All right. We will jump right into uh new business first, which is uh personal property tax on aircraft, and uh over to Mr. Commissioner May. Um did you send me something to share on the screen or no? Um you can share it, but I really actually it's it's mostly uh for us here, and I'll show it to the folks, but we're gonna do uh really quick working group kickoff to do this, get the data, put it together, get the presentation and likely an executive one pager per council. Um we're going to we've got a lot of the data that we're gonna need already, um, but we do want to get this ready for the October council meeting. Um so the working group should be done by then. Um so the council's gonna meet in October and we want to have this done by then. Um really it's just formalizing it together. We'll bring it. We can then um whether we're bringing it to our October meeting and then sending it or whether we need to do past the round outside of that. We'll figure that one out. Um you want to talk a little bit about the background on why. Yeah, so every once in a while, right? The somebody somebody from the public will bring up the um effective tax rate and the personal property tax on aircraft, and that did come up at uh recent um council meeting about two months ago now. Um anyway, council uh did say that um they're gonna hold the rate for now, but they are really pushing the decision to their budget summit. Um, and so they they want from us a little bit more data-driven answer to provide and have as they make a decision going into that summit. It's pretty easy for us to put together. Uh it's gonna be a lot about um what the airport does, how much it brings in from an economic stance, and how that how that looks. Um, I met with Scott actually yesterday to get some initial data from the FBO and from Coon.
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