Audit faults Idaho’s three-plane fleet
BOISE – Idaho needs to re-examine whether it really needs three airplanes, including one mostly used to fly the governor, according to a new state audit.
“The urgency of trips and itineraries indicate that other less expensive transportation options exist in most circumstances,” the audit states.
The audit comes as the governor and Legislature are locked in debate about transportation funding, including whether to raise vehicle registration fees or other taxes to address a giant road maintenance backlog.
The Idaho Transportation Department accepted the audit finding and said it would look into the issue, but the governor’s office and lawmakers say state aircraft are anything but luxurious.
The largest of the planes, a 1979 King Air twin-engine turboprop, is a former military plane that was transferred to the state by the federal government for law-enforcement use. It can be used by other state agencies when the state police aren’t using it.
In the last fiscal year, the King Air flew 86 times, including 40 for the governor. The next biggest user was ITD, with nine flights.
“That’s a pretty good deal to have a plane for free,” said Senate Transportation Chairman John McGee. “If it costs the taxpayer less to fly a handful of people on the state plane, we should do it. If it’s costing us more, we shouldn’t do it. I’m glad that we’re studying it so closely.”
Jon Hanian, Gov. Butch Otter’s press secretary, said the plane is necessary “in a state that is as rugged and mountainous as Idaho is. It’s not like getting to places in Kansas.”
Hanian noted that other states’ governors who have flown to Idaho often have arrived in state jets.
The state also has two single-engine, three-passenger Cessnas.
State Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, noted that the budget he recently helped craft for ITD includes nearly $200,000 for an engine overhaul for the King Air. “You have to question the feasibility of continuing to operate those planes,” he said. But, Hammond noted, “You wouldn’t want your governor spending two days in travel just to get around the state.”
Hanian said use of the plane has included Otter’s “Capitol for a Day” program to bring the governor and key staffers to Idaho communities, and for attending soldiers’ funerals.
Last year, the King Air served 20 state agencies, which were charged $720 per flight hour, plus $62 per hour that pilots were on standby outside Boise. The audit faulted ITD for using “the state’s largest and most expensive aircraft … to transport a single passenger.” Stratten said that happened only once in 2005, when then-ITD Director Dave Ekern traveled in the King Air, roundtrip to Coeur d’Alene.