
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990                   TAG: 9003202795
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

HIGHER AVIATION TAXES ASKED

The Bush administration is asking Congress to raise taxes on aviation fuel and airline tickets and allow a new airport tax as part of a five-year plan for commercial aviation.

Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner included the $22 billion proposal in the Federal Aviation Administration's reauthorization bill sent to Congress on Monday.

The plan would add up to $12 in airport fees to a roundtrip airline ticket, increase the tax on tickets from 8 to 10 percent and raise aviation fuel taxes by 25 percent, which also likely would be passed along in higher fares. Congress is likely to make modifications, however.

It is the first proposal arising out of the administration's new national transportation policy, which calls for travelers to finance a greater share of national transportation systems.

The administration makes a distinction between "user fees" and taxes, which President Bush has promised not to increase. Skinner acknowledged last week, however, that transportation budget proposals include boosts in both local and federal levies.

The increases would add to an aviation trust fund that the FAA proposes to tap for 85 percent of aeronautical needs through fiscal 1995. Currently, 57 percent of federal aviation costs are covered by users via the tax-fed trust fund, with the remainder from general tax revenue.

FAA Administrator James Busey said the reauthorization bill would help meet the growing demand for aviation, allow modernization of the air traffic control system and increase aviation safety.

Overall, it would boost federal funding for aviation projects by 73 percent in the next five years, Busey said.

In addition to the plan for improvements, the FAA expects to spend between $22 billion and $24 billion on operations and maintenance over the next five years, including salaries of air traffic controllers, agency budget officials said.

"I believe this administration has put forward a comprehensive proposal to deal with aviation in the 1990s," Busey told a meeting of airport officials.

If approved by Congress, the plan would allow airports to impose taxes for the first time since the early 1970s.

The maximum initial tax would be $3 per departure, with travelers who make connecting flights paying at no more than one additional airport each way. The legislation would give the transportation secretary power to increase the maximum tax after fiscal 1991.

by CNB