CRESWELL – City officials presented to the city council on Monday night about Creswell’s Hobby Field airport, providing a financial overview of operations, grant history, and transfers from the general fund to the airport fund.
City manager Vincent Martorello said Shelley Humble, airport manager, and James Piper, finance director, reviewed 26 years of data, dating back to 2001, including financial audit data, grant data, and fund transfers.
The trio started working on the presentation about two months ago. It came in response to concerns regarding the amount of money transferred from the general fund to the airport fund.
Martorello said that a few months ago, several online posts suggested the City was not managing the finances of the general fund and the airport fund properly. Staff’s intent with the presentation was to present the information and show that the funds transferred generate an enormous benefit to the community and airport users.
“It’s been near and dear to my heart for 26 years, and I’m really tired of getting beat up,” Humble said. “Hopefully this will help pave the actual truth. The yellow brick road is actually paved with gold and not the falsities that are on the internet.”
The city purchased the airport in 1963 and took over operations in 2000. As part of that discussion about the city taking over operations, there was an agreement between Creswell Airport Inc., which operated the airport from 1963 to 2000, and the city, under which Creswell Airport Inc. would retain the rental revenue from around 36 units.
That amount is upwards of $36,000 a year. Since 2001, that amounts to about $936,000 in lease revenue the city did not receive. That decision by the council over 25 years ago is still having a financial constraint on direct transfers from the general fund today.
“This was a decision, really not in the best interest of the financial health of the airport,” Martorello said.
He said the city has very little information about the reasoning for this arrangement and that it was part of the agreement for the city to take over operations. The city owned the land but was not yet operating the airport. The agreement is set to expire in 2030.
Transfers from the general fund to the airport totaled around $1.4 million, or about $104,000 per year, from 2013 to 2026. When the airport’s opportunity cost of lost rent of $936,000 is factored in, the effect on general fund support is approximately $1 million over the period, or about $73,000 per year. Losing that revenue directly impacts the transfers.
From 2013 to 2026, for every dollar transferred from the general fund, the airport generated roughly $8 in revenue, a 700% return on investment.
Piper floated the idea of separating the capital reserve in the airport operating fund. He said it is the only operating fund that includes capital projects. Water, sewer, and street funds all have a capital improvement reserve fund for long-term projects, but the airport does not have any long-term projects. He explained that airport operations are daily, like leasing hangars and ensuring planes take off and land.
“If that capital reserve is separated, like we have every other department, the question of when the airport will become self-sustaining– I think we can get there easily after this is taken care of,” said Martorello.
Martorello shared the airport’s financial history over the last 13 years. From 2013 to 2026, personnel and material services expenses totaled approximately $5,550,000, averaging $397,000 per year. During the same period, airport revenues totaled $12 million, averaging roughly $855,000 per year. On average, the airport revenues exceeded personnel and material service expenses by around $450,000 between 2013 and 2026.
Humble said 12 businesses operate and function out of the airport, bringing in revenue for the city. It generates 37 direct jobs, resulting in a $1.6 million payroll value to Creswell.
“Put those numbers in context to what we’re transferring out, but also those transfers allow us to generate the revenue,” Martorello said. “There’s such a strong symbiotic relationship there.”
According to Humble, Hobby Field is the third-busiest general aviation airport with no air service. Around 97 airplanes and three helicopters currently use it.
Humble, who was hired in February 2000, said she has applied for, overseen, and closed grants totaling $10,256,495. From 2001 to 2026, the airport has earned $6,567,470 in grant funds. The city’s match for those grants totaled approximately $1,195,414. Most of this, $5,892,248, was earned between fiscal years 2013 and 2026. Humble is responsible for 49 grants in the past 26 years.
The amounts transferred from the general fund represent 25% of the grant totals. For every approximately $1.46 transferred from the general fund, the city receives about $5.89 in grant funding.
“The financial management of the airport is above reproach. The revenue received would not be possible without these improvements to the airport,” Martorello said. “Lastly, and most poignantly, not everything one reads on social media or on the internet is beneficial, accurate, or truthful.”
Coming up at the end of August, Hobby Field is hosting STOL’N Out West, a new aviation fly-in and STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) competition. This inaugural event will showcase some of the nation’s most talented bush pilots as they demonstrate precision, skill, and aircraft performance through short takeoffs and landings.
Information about the STOL event, tickets, and the presentation given to the city council can all be found on the city’s website at ci.creswell.or.us.
