Grand County budget advisers heard from Steve Gleason, director of Canyonlands Regional Airport, on Oct. 3 about proposed 2026 budget changes and detailed concerns about airport revenues and staffing. Gleason said lease income — normally stable — "has gone down dramatically almost by two thirds over the last 2 to 3 years," and urged more detailed billing and accounting to identify whether revenue has been miscoded or unpaid.

The discussion matters because federal rules and grant conditions restrict airport revenues to airport uses and because the airport is projecting a shortfall that the county general fund may need to cover. Gabe (county staff) said restricted airport funds currently total about $200,000 while airport actuals stand at roughly $736,000; Gleason and staff said that difference will exhaust the remaining restricted balance during 2025 unless revenue or expense patterns change.

Gleason outlined several budget requests tied to operations and compliance. He asked that an operations coordinator position be established or reclassified to meet FAA responsibilities for an operations manager and that Jessica Zufelt, the airport administrative assistant, be made full time to improve day-to-day billing and reconciliation. Gleason said making the administrative assistant full time would help the airport perform a "layman's forensic audit" of lease and fee billings and expenditures to determine why lease revenue showed the large decline.

Board members pressed for more detail. Members asked for line-by-line billing information for hangars and non-lease revenue so the county finance office and airport staff can reconcile collections and coding. Gabe said staff will provide a summary narrative and the detailed ledger so the board can see which billings compose the revenue lines. Gleason recommended monthly ledgers be made available for ongoing cross-checks.

The board also discussed fuel sales and enplanements. Members noted the airport's aviation fuel tax and fuel-sales lines have varied historically and that Contour Airlines has been "tankering" fuel (bringing fuel from offsite) rather than buying fuel from the airport, contributing to lower fuel revenue; the Contour fuel contract is scheduled to expire in September 2026. Gleason said enplanement trends are currently down and that a rebid/renegotiation with the air carrier could offer ways to increase enplanements next year.

On overtime and training, Gleason said it is not feasible for a commercial-service airport to budget zero overtime and proposed a line for overtime based on this year's patterns, and he proposed increased training expenditure (ASOS/basic and advanced airport operations training and live burn ARFF training) to meet FAA Part 139 requirements. Board members requested that salary and benefit changes be shown in isolated lines in the budget packet so the advisory board and commission can review reclassifications and new positions consistently.

Gleason and Gabe also discussed federal and grant receipts: FEMA/AIP and other pandemic-era federal funding left restricted airport-related funds in the general fund; those restricted balances must be used for airport purposes. Gabe said staff will add a short narrative and the detailed breakout of those restricted amounts to the budget record so the board can see how much remains and how much the general fund is supporting airport operations this year.

The board directed staff to provide the detailed billing ledgers and a revised budget worksheet that isolates salary/benefit reclassifications, expected overtime, and the restricted-fund summary. The board did not take a formal vote on airport appropriations at the meeting.

Gleason concluded by saying improved monthly reconciliation and staffing would allow the airport to track hangar payments, rental-car and other elastic revenues, and to determine whether payments are missing or misclassified.