The Idaho Transportation Department wants lawmakers to earmark $2 million for next year to replace one of the aircraft in the state’s three-plane fleet.
ITD Director Brian Ness told the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Monday that replacing the aging 45-year-old Cessna 182 single prop airplane with a modern aircraft will be safer for customers, and the triple-props are better suited for use in emergencies such as search and rescue.
ITD’s current fleet includes the Cessna 182, as well as a King Air, and a Cessna 206. The King Air is used most, as it can carry 10 passengers, can be flown in all types of weather, and can reach most places in Idaho within an hour. The Cessna 206 was purchased in 1978, can carry five passengers and is capable of carrying oversized cargo. The Cessna 182, which was purchased in 1972, can carry three passengers.
The department says more than 40 state agencies use the state planes, including for emergency transportation for the Idaho State Police and the state Department of Correction; for search and rescue; for emergency transport of hazardous materials; and for non-emergency transportation of state employees.
Between the three planes, the state logged 384 one-way flight segments last year.
Ness requested that the $2 million for the purchase of the plane come from the state’s Aeronautics Fund, which comes from aviation fuel taxes, aircraft licensing fees, fines, and penalties.
Governor Butch Otter’s budget recommendation for ITD for next year comes to a total of $706.3 million, a 6.2 percent increase from this year’s level.
JFAC members begin crafting state agency budgets on February 16th. (Spokesman-Review)
