Judge Upholds 10% Tax on Burbank Parking Revenues

The 10% tax levied by the city on parking revenue at Burbank Airport has been upheld over the objections of airport officials.

The Burbank Airport Authority challenged the tax, which raised the parking tax throughout the city, claiming it placed an unfair burden on air travelers.

But Ventura County Superior Court Judge Barbara Lane ruled that the tax does not affect air travelers exclusively but all those who require “use of the roads, street maintenance and police and safety services” in Burbank.

“It’s a significant victory for Burbank,” Peter Kirsch, special counsel on airport matters, said of Lane’s ruling last Friday.

Taxes collected from airport parking account for roughly two-thirds of all receipts from the tax, which was imposed Jan. 1, Kirsch said. The city expects to collect $1.3 million annually from the parking tax.

Lane dismissed claims by the airport authority that the tax illegally diverted airport revenue to non-airport uses, such as road maintenance.

The airport authority will study the ruling before it decides whether another challenge to the tax is in order, said Victor Gill, airport spokesman.

Meanwhile, the tax has contributed to rising parking costs at the airport, Gill said. Burbank Airport’s long-term parking rate is the highest in Southern California.

Motorists must pay $10 a day for long-term parking at the airport, compared with $5 or $7 at Los Angeles International, $7 at John Wayne Airport in Orange County and $5 at Ontario International Airport.

The planned construction of a new, 19-gate terminal at the airport has also driven parking prices up, Gill said. The costs of the new parking tax will have to be made up by cuts elsewhere if the planned expansion is to continue, he said.

“The money has to come from somewhere,” Gill said. “Possibly from increasing airline landing fees.”