The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, (MWAA), has been called many things including “an unconstitutional Frankenstein monster” by constitutional lawyers and there is ample evidence that it is a growing threat to the interests of the local community.[read_more] Originally formed to manage two federal airports, Dulles and Reagan National, MWAA is subject to little outside control.
An ongoing case of mission-creep has MWAA operating way outside its legitimate boundaries, now controlling the Dulles Toll Road, acting as overseer of a partially toll-funded multi-billion dollar commuter rail line serving suburban communities, and debuting as a commercial real estate developer in Loudoun County. Remember, MWAA’s charter only specifically authorizes it to manage the two airports.
Loudoun commuters pay tolls which are funding the MWAA-controlled Silver Line expansion that the same commuters may never choose to use. Unless something changes, Loudoun taxpayers will pay significantly higher taxes and suffer from deteriorating traffic conditions as MWAA barges into the private commercial and residential real estate development business on Dulles airport property.
Before being elected to serve as Delegate to the 33rd District, I worked closely with members of the community to bring forward information about the real costs and impact of extending the Silver Line into Loudoun. As MWAA prepares to act in a way that will impact Loudoun residents financially and otherwise, I am recruiting the support of elected officials to oppose MWAA’s effort to engage in non-aviation commercial and residential development on federally-owned land at Dulles Airport.
Last week I sent a letter to all supervisors, constitutional officers, state delegates and senators who represent Loudoun residents. This letter explained how MWAA has worked to change the rules to allow them to market and develop federal land for non-aviation-related purposes, a proposition concealed from the public as Loudoun supervisors contemplated and subsequently agreed to partnering on the Silver Line extension into Loudoun, a project of considerable cost. This development would put MWAA in direct competition with private businesses and taxpayers. Now that taxpayersand toll payers are on the hook to fund the airport metro station, they have added tremendous value to MWAA’s undeveloped property. In exchange, MWAA is seeking to capitalize on its property values at the further expense of the Loudoun taxpayer.
This new development on MWAA-controlled property would not be subject to Loudoun County’s zoning, would not generate any proffers for transportation, schools, or other public services, and would not pay a full share of property taxes. As a result, it would severely undercut the tax revenue that Loudoun planned to raise from development around the proposed airport station to offset building costs. MWAA will be profiting from massive development, while Loudoun taxpayers will be left footing the bill for services which the freeloading businesses on federally-owned land will demand.
This letter urges our local representatives to demand that Congress repeal MWAA’s non-aviation-related development authority, which is part of the FAA Reauthorization Act currently being debated in Congress. Congresswoman Comstock will play a key role in this opportunity to protect Loudoun residents, as she serves on the House committee and subcommittee that is currently working on this legislation.
We need Congresswoman Comstock to stand up for her constituents in Loudoun County. Please join me in asking her to insist that the Federal government and MWAA don’t abuse Loudoun County by diverting away our tax revenue and dodging their fair share of road improvements while increasing demand for services. We need her to stand up for her constituents in Loudoun County. I’m pleased to report that several of our elected officials have already expressed their willingness to join this effort.
You, too, can join in by petitioning Congresswoman Comstock to insist that Congress reign in MWAA. If you go to votelarock.us/protectloudoun, you’ll find my full letter to our local representatives and a letter you can send to Comstock to urge her support.
We have a great opportunity to protect Loudoun, but time is short. I’ll continue to make every effort to make sure our taxpayers are treated fairly.
Delegate Dave LaRock
14 comments
If there is a Loudoun politician that DOESN’T sign the letter, I hope the media presses them (in an election year) to state why they won’t. This one seems like a no-brainer. MWAA seeks to very seriously siphon off revenue from Loudoun. There is no good reason whatsoever that a local representative would want this to happen. There should be a long list of signatures supporting the initiative to rescind MWAA’s commercial development authority.
Lawrence- a few points to clarify:
1. MWAA was created though an Interstate Compact (IC) through Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution which provides that “no state shall enter into an agreement or compact with another state” without the consent of Congress. The two parties in the MWAA Compact are Virginia (state) and the District of Columbia (not a state). BTW Congress does control the District of Colombia.
2. In 2008, Gov.Tim Kaine (not the Genaral Assembly, GA) gave away our paid-for Dulles Toll Road to MWAA for the grand total of NOTHING just as it was about to become a free road. The GA cannot expand the boundaries of an IC. Congress has no specific authority do do so either, only approve formation.
3. new non-aviation development is quite unique in that it will compete with private sector development, creating demand for locally funded services while not paying a fair share-that makes it a local issue that Congress should resolve
4. MWAA the bad guy-NO just profit driven with absolutely no reason to weigh the costs imposed on Loudoun and Virginia taxpayers into their decisions. It’s worth noting MWAA did not disclose intent to compete with Loudoun for private development until after Loudoun opted into the Silverline.
Clear as mud?
Regarding point #2, I believe the master agreement was signed and executed in 2006 by the Virginia Commonwealth’s then Secretary of Transportation, Pierce Homer and the Commonwealth’s Commissioner of Transportation, David Ekern, I’m sure at the bequest of the Governor and “other” officials as specified in the consents and approvals clause of the contract. I have always wondered, given the position of these appointed signatories and the massive transfer of public assets to the MWAA, if they were fully authorized under the Commonwealth’s governing law of contracts to actually execute this Agreement.
After reading this twice, I am still frankly a little confused regarding how the MWAA is positioned. A brief background – in 1987, Dulles and National (now Reagan) airports were transferred to the Airports Authority under a 50 year lease authorized by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986, Title VI of Public Law 99-500. ALL property was transferred to the Airports Authority and the Federal government held title to the lease. Prior to this transfer, the airports were owned and operated by the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition to operating Reagan and Dulles, the Airports Authority is responsible for capital improvements at both airports as well.
In 2008, the Commonwealth of Virginia transferred the daily operation, maintenance and control of the Dulles Toll Road to the Airports Authority. The tolls collected were to be used for operation, maintenance and improvements in the Dulles corridor, and to fund a “portion” of the construction of Metrorail in the Dulles corridor. The Airports Authority is NOT taxpayer-funded but is self-supporting, using aircraft landing fees, rents and revenues from concessions to fund operating expenses. The Dulles Development Program is funded by bonds issued by the Airports Authority, Federal and State Airport Improvement Program funds, and Passenger Facility Charges. The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project is somewhat different as it is funded by the Airports Authority and the project’s partners in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Federal Government, as well as from revenue generated by the Dulles Toll Road. That is it’s brief role and operation history in a nut shell.
I in general agree with Delegate La Rock, in what I believe to be his position, to see the MWAA become more responsive to the issues of local county voters and development planning BUT I think he has made some assertions regarding the nature and legal basis of the Authority that are just not supportable.
Frist, that the MWAA is “an unconstitutional Frankenstein monster” is only supportable if you maintain that the underlying legal statutes passed by both the Feds and the Commonwealth are open to constitutional challenge, a position that has never been undertaken and is questionable in it’s conjecture.
Second, the view of “mission-creep” in the MWAA operating way outside its “legitimate boundaries”, as it’s charter only specifically authorizes it to manage the two airports, therefore controlling the Dulles Toll Road, acting as overseer of commuter rail line service, and commercial real estate developer in Loudoun County is somehow charter inappropriate. This completely ignores the fact that the Commonwealth granted such authority to the MWAA in 2008. Delegate La Rock’s beef here should be with General Assembly in which he serves as a member not any MWAA mission creep that it was effectively granted by the state.
Third, “new development on MWAA-controlled property would not be subject to Loudoun County’s zoning” is true but recall the Federal government holds title to the lease, as it does in countless other areas across the US, where said properties have been remove from the regional localities tax rolls. This is a common practice that is particularly egregious in the western US but has absolutely nothing to do with the MWAA per se. This is a federal issue and practice and to blame the MWAA as it’s perpetrator is misplaced logic.
Fourth, the “taxpayers and toll payers are on the hook to fund the airport metro station”, recall that the Dulles Development Program is funded by bonds issued by the MWAA, as well as, Federal and State Airport Improvement Program funds, and Passenger Facility Charges while the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project is funded by the MWAA and its project partners in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, as well as, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Federal Government, and from revenue generated by the Dulles Toll Road. So the taxpayers are on the hook for a “portion” of this expense BUT they were put there by their own county supervisory officials by “voluntarily” entering into a development contractual agreement with the MWAA that they can rescind, if I have read the contracts correctly. To solely paint the MWAA as the bad guy in all of this is disingenuous to say the least.
As I stated above I agree that this whole process needs a fresh rethinking and adjusted piorities to better accomodate the local counties and voter input BUT to make a straw man agrument that all blame regarding these issues somehow leads to the MWAA door is frankly simplistic and misleading and the facts just don’t support it.
There is mission creep here. MWAA was not granted authority to engage in non-aviation commercial development until 2012 when someone snuck in a one sentence statement in the middle of the 150 page FAA Tefo Act. That provision was never debated to my knowledge. It should have been. It’s time to rescind this power that never should have been granted in the first place. You mention other federal properties. How many of them are running commercial ventures like a convention center? It’s not fair to nearby landowners to have to compete with a quasi Federal entity that is not subject to income taxes.
I’m simply stating that the MWAA is not some rogue agency as was portrayed in this op-ed nor is it all that unusual in the scope of things in other locales in it’s legislative underpinnings and its actions. Attacking the MWAA itself buys you little to nothing, you need to focus on the enablers and the legislative statutes if you want to effectively change anything and a readily available target would be the contracts that Loudoun and Fairfax executed with the MWAA regarding the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Otherwise, this in my opinion, is just political venting and issue stagecraft regardless of how the perfectly valid 2012 modifications were introduced and passed.
MWAA is unusual vis a vis other localities in that it is a quasi governmental organization that isn’t subject to FOIA, is income tax exempt and has had significant problems with cronyism due to lack of oversight. Dave posits a solution to the immediate problem which is the need to get this entity, with all its advantages, out of the commercial development business where it shouldn’t be.
I believe you are really underestimating the significant growth of these quasi government hybrid organizations like MWAA, with both government and private sector legal characteristics, that have spread across the nation in the last decade. These hybrid organizations have grown rapidly in scope and function under the direction of Congress and the executive branch, increasingly assuming legal characteristics of both the government and private sectors combined. They have assumed the traditionally assigned tasks once delegated to executive departments and agencies while often competing directly in the public sector space. The one common characteristic these entities in the quasi government space share is that they are not agencies of the United States as that term is defined in Title 5 of the U.S. Code.
The MWAA is not a one off but rather a trend line, espousing the belief that management flexibility requires entity-specific laws and regulations, even at the cost of less accountability to representative institutions and local government. I would have to disagree with you that these “quasi” entities are unusual, they are in fact, a disturbing growth trend, that just hasn’t generated much discussion or comment among constitutionalists or in the mass media. They are a bastardization of the Federal bureaucarcy that has encouraged these entities to develop their own, new sources for revenue and growth. They will be difficult to stamp out in this area of new “public management'” and that is the dragon Delegate La Rock is really poking at in it’s den in my opinion whether he realizes it or not
That’s interesting. Can you give me an example of another MWAA like entity that is exempt from both state and federal income taxes and isn’t subject to FOIA?
There are no forthright characteristics that reside in any legal history that I have been able to locate that would aid an interested party in deciding whether or not the FOIA law applies to this particular governmental hybrid vs another organization that can be simply placed in a specific definition. Major examples, given the recent economy wide issues regarding the housing collaspe debacle would be quasi agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ( PCAOB ). A future example that is likely to put the country at risk would be a hybrid like Sallie Mae. None of these are covered by FOIA, they are treated like private companies but governed and funded like governmental agencies. Those are examples of the BIG nightmares.
To address your specific question regarding the MWAA, I would say the 2000 ruling on the Denver Post Corp. v. Stapleton Development Corp. by the Colorado Court of Appeals which determined that this type of hybrid corporation WAS subject to the state open records laws is a close example. Prior to this ligitation the quasi hybrid had been created by the city of Denver and tasked to redevelop a former airport through the Denver Urban Renewal Authority. The appeals court upheld that the hybrid corporation was subject to the state open records act because the project was of a public nature, on publicly owned land and because the city had significant control over the project and the corporation. Prior to this litigation and final appeal ruling the agency had acted in a very similiar manner to MWAA regarding outside FOIA requests. This example was overriden by the courts but there are others that were not so successful. I haven’t looked at this in a while, and am no lawyer, but I’m confident this is not all that unusual. As I’ve stated in my overlong comments this is a real developing problem over the past decade that hasn’t gained much public traction.
I’d like to agree with LW’s statements and add:
1. Govt’s love these entities because organizations like MWAA can issue their own bonds. Therefore, the states and federal government get to move large amount of debt off their own books and obligate these organizations. To me, this financial shell game is the big driver. Often, these quasi-governmental groups are transportation related and rack up large amounts of indebtedness.
2. As stated, these quasi-governmental groups try and cherry-pick the laws that apply to them. When it comes to privacy, they claim they are private entities and FOIA doesn’t apply. When they issue bonds, then they try and be public entities so they can get better rates. When all else fails they head into the murky legal waters to hide as need be.
3. Yes, MWAA is just one of these beasts. However, it seeking (and getting) broad commercial development authority is really concerning. If they can pull that off, then these kinds of quasi-government organizations can get spun up all over and cut out the local (and state) levels of government.
4. MWAA should be abolished altogether. Both airports it oversees are in Virginia. We should kill off MWAA now and return airport oversight to Virginia.
You answered the FOIA question but not the income tax exemption question.
The same given example regarding Stapleton Airport Redevelopment Authority which was a tax exempt as I recall in both Denver City and County which caused a lot of complaints at the time and I believe actually led to the FOIA suit by the local media reporting group. Its just not that uncommon with these type of quasi- governmental groups. I had a list of about fifteen of these across the country a few years ago but can’t seem to locate it in my office, probably tossed in some past futile clean up attempt. If your still doubtful do a little research on the web they are not to difficult to uncover. Mr. Dickinson’s comment below is correct they tend to be heavily concentrated in the transportation and communications development and construction sectors.
I wish Dave would call out the Loudoun County bos for NOT doing what is constitutionally and legally correct. Remember the great promise to “help” with the Waterford mess (Joe May’s Waterford Bill) prior to being elected to office? Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.