Wichita reduces VIP free-parking passes at Eisenhower airport

The Wichita City Council took final action Tuesday to cut the number of free-parking passes at Eisenhower National Airport.

The policy reduces the number of passes from 113 last year to 27 or fewer going forward.

And, unlike the previous system, the passes that are being issued will go only to city officials and employees and can be used only when they are on official business.

Through last year, 113 VIPs had carried pass cards allowing them to park for free at the city-owned airport. The list included current and former city employees, business community leaders, current and retired aviation industry executives, Sedgwick County commissioners and department heads and members of Congress and their staffs, among others.

The passes were for the paid public-parking lots and were separate from the passes issued to airport workers who park in employee lots.

After Tuesday’s unanimous vote to cut back on the passes, Mayor Jeff Longwell said the free-parking list “had evolved into something much, much more than was ever intended.”

“With the new parking garage, this gave us a chance to clean it up,” he said.

The council approved outlines of the new parking policy in January.

Longwell said the council decided not to eliminate passes for council members and city employees to maintain a strict separation between airport funds and city taxes.

The airport runs on user fees and grants, without tapping city tax dollars. Although it would be a small amount, any money to reimburse city officials and employees for parking at the airport “would come from the general fund, which would mean taxpayers would be paying part of the cost of airport operations,” Longwell said.

Under the policy passed Tuesday, each City Council member will receive a parking pass for use only on city business. They will have to pay for their own parking for leisure travel.

In addition to the council passes, the city manager’s office will get as many as 20 generic passes to be signed out by City Hall employees when they need to park at the airport for business there or for work-related travel.

Unlike the previous VIP passes, the new passes are electronically coded and tagged so that usage can be tracked.

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Wichita reduces VIP free-parking passes at Eisenhower airport."