City of Fargo, Airport Authority sign new agreement

FARGO (KVRR/KFGO) – Fargo city officials and the Hector International Airport Authority have reached a milestone that has been a long time in the making.

On Monday, the two organizations will officially sign a new memorandum of understanding which recognizes a separation of the city and the airport, changing the previous 50-year agreement between the City and the Airport Authority.

While the relationship will change, the City and Airport Authority will not sever completely.

“The relationship doesn’t mean a complete separation, though,” said former City attorney Erik Johnson. “The Airport Authority is sort of an arm of the City in the sense that the City Commission still appoints all five members of the Airport Commission. So, those are significant roles.”

Johnson stepped down from his role at the end of 2021.

Another change, which became effective Dec. 31, is that airport employees are no longer City employees.

Johnson said the agreement also lays out expectations the City has and the Airport is agreeing for having a process for the Airport to provide the City Commission with important information on an annual basis.

Formal negotiations have been underway for more than two years and were somewhat contentious at times.

In 2020, the City Commission discussed the possibility of dissolving the Airport Authority. Last September, the City voted 3-2 to not extend a decades-long tax that helped pay for airport construction due to the airport’s high cash reserves.

Airport Authority Chairman Erik Lind said the reserves were only short-term and built up when the airport receives federal funding after a project is completed.