The city finds that:
A. The city owns and controls that certain airport and air navigation facility located in Elko County, state of Nevada, and known as the Elko municipal airport (airport).
B. The airport promotes a strong economic base for the community, assists and encourages world trade opportunities, and is of vital importance to the health, safety and welfare of the state.
C. The airport is a commercial service airport as that phase is defined in 14 code of federal regulations part 158, as adopted by the FAA, being a public airport enplaning two thousand five hundred (2,500) or more scheduled air passengers per year.
D. The deregulation of the airline industry, the restructuring of airline ownerships, and fluctuating market changes in the field of commercial aviation have placed new financial challenges on the city.
E. The operation of Elko municipal airport as a public facility attracting scheduled airline passenger service by airline carriers at the Elko municipal airport imposes financial responsibility on the city for airport facilities and operations.
F. The city will require substantial expenditure for capital investment, operation, maintenance and improvements for the airport facilities to meet the future demand for passenger air travel.
G. The congress of the United States has authorized the adoption of a passenger facility charge program by local airports pursuant to the aviation safety and capacity expansion act of 1990 (pub. L. 101-508, title IX subtitle B, November 5, 1990) (hereinafter the "act").
H. It is in the city's best economic interest to adopt and in the interest of airline passengers that the city adopt a passenger facility charge program as identified in this chapter to maintain and further expand the transportation facilities of the city.
I. In establishing and implementing the passenger facility charge program, the passengers using the airport should contribute to a greater degree toward the development of airport facilities used by passengers and continued improvements thereof.
J. The fees implemented by this chapter are reasonable for the use of the airport and aviation facilities by the general public.
K. The purpose of this chapter is to enact a passenger facility charge program consistent with the above findings and this chapter and the regulations published pursuant thereto shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes expressed. (Ord. 497, 2-24-1998)