Winner Aviation loses $2.1M in repair business

A legislative aide said it may be nearly two years before the issue resurfaces.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

VIENNA — Winner Aviation, a fuel handler and service provider at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, says it lost $2.1 million in aviation repair business in 2006 to states outside Ohio that have eliminated taxes on such work.

Ohio legislators, some of whom tried to get the aviation repair taxes eliminated in the state budget approved this summer, need to try again so that companies such as Winner are competing on a level playing field, said Mark Geisler, Winner general manager.

Geisler said aircraft need to have a major overhaul of their engines after every 3,600 hours of flight time and a smaller overhaul at 1,800 hours. Those jobs cost around $500,000 to $250,000, he said.

The taxes on one of the bigger jobs is around $17,000, Geisler said. And that is enough to cause business to go elsewhere, he added.

The state of New York eliminated its taxes on aviation repairs about 18 months ago, followed by Michigan last year. New Hampshire, Vermont and Indiana have never had such taxes, and Pennsylvania is on the verge of eliminating its aviation taxes, Geisler said.

After Pennsylvania eliminates its taxes, Ohio would be the only state within 500 miles still charging them, said Chris Litton, development officer for the Regional Chamber.

Complaint

“The birthplace of aviation [Ohio] is doing a disservice to aviation,” Litton said.

“When it comes to aviation, the state doesn’t seem to understand the impact it has on Ohio,” Geisler said, explaining that Winner has 25 employees who work on aviation maintenance alone. It has around 63 employees in all.

Geisler said the company has received support from state Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, State Rep. Sandra Harwood of Niles, D-65th, and state Rep. Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, for the proposal and expects more support in the future.

Greg Paul, legislative aide to Hagan, said it is possible Hagan will propose legislation again this October to eliminate the taxes, but money issues are best handled in the state budget, with the next one of those being nearly two years away.

Paul said there is support for eliminating the taxes from among the Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature, but eliminating $11 million in taxes was tough to accomplish during the “difficult budget season” earlier this year.

runyan@vindy.com