Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass, right, talks with local pilots after the Sept. 3 Lee County Port Authority meeting. Pilots have raised concerns about planned hangar rate increases at Page Field in Fort Myers.
David Dorsey
Local pilots who use Page Field remain concerned they could be priced out of flying in Fort Myers following the Lee County Port Authority’s decision to more than double some hangar rates over the next three years.
The board of port commissioners, who also serve as Lee County commissioners, voted 3-1 on Sept. 3 to authorize the 2026-27 budget. The action included raising public parking rates at Southwest Florida International Airport and Page Field hangar rates.
Commissioner Brian Hamman, who is up for reelection in November, made a motion prior to the vote to phase in the Page Field hangar rate increases over the next three years rather than raising them overnight Oct. 1.
“Page Field has always felt like more of a hometown airport,” Hamman said. “We have more empathy for our local folks who use that. These folks have approached and asked that we go back to the original proposal. I would like to amend the motion to a three-year phase-in, the one that was proposed by our staff.”
Commissioner David Mulicka called the pilots some of the “nicest lobbyists he’s ever met.” But putting his business hat on, he preferred a two-year phase-in.
Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said he was fine with a three-year phase-in. But he still voted against approving the budget as a whole.
Pendergrass was on the losing end of the 3-1 vote, with Hamman, Mulicka and Trish Petrosky in favor of approving the budget, which included the parking and hangar rate increases. Pendergrass, who, like Hamman, is up for reelection in November, said he voted against the budget because both the parking and hangar rate increases were too much.
A small aircraft approaches Page Field in Fort Myers, where pilots are raising concerns about steep hangar rate increases approved by the Lee County Port Authority.
Bonnie Dorsey
Commissioner Kevin Ruane did not vote because he did not attend the meeting.
Parking rates at RSW will rise from a daily maximum of $24 to $28 in the short-term lot and from $11 to $14 in the long-term lot.
The hangar rate increases at Page Field will vary depending on the type of hangar, but rates will rise each year over the next three years to bring them in line with market rates, according to a study of seven other Gulf Coast airports in Florida conducted by the port authority.
“This is death by a thousand cuts instead of just being stabbed to death overnight,” said Ramon Pabalan, an area pilot.
“They’re pricing us out of the market,” said Jeff Dukes, an airplane owner who uses Page Field. “There’s not going to be a next generation of pilots.”
Frank Jannelli, owner of a Cessna 340, pleaded with the commissioners during public comment not to raise the hangar rates. He asked that the commissioners release the complete market study — which is available as a public record — disclose the additional revenues that would be generated and base the rate increases on inflation rather than full market value.
The Lee County Board of Port Commissioners meets Sept. 3 in Fort Myers. Commissioners approved a three-year phase-in of hangar rate increases at Page Field as part of the Lee County Port Authority’s 2026-27 budget.
David Dorsey
“It’s better than doing it overnight,” Jannelli said after the meeting. “But in three years, my rents are going up by 87%.”
None of the commissioners discussed the reasons for raising the hangar or parking rates after public comment. Pendergrass did question when the parking rates were last raised. Three years ago, the short-term lot daily maximum rose from $18 to $24.
Port Authority employees will receive 4% pay raises effective Oct. 1 as part of the budget approval. In a separate vote, the port commissioners were set to give Port Authority Executive Director Steve Hennigan a 4% raise, as well — until Robbie Roepstorff, a member of the Lee County Port Authority Special Management Committee, spoke up in favor of boosting the raise to 6%, the maximum allowed under his contract.
The motion passed unanimously following Roepstorff’s comments.
“We just said the fabulous job he has done,” she said. “And he took over a lot of craziness going on. He has addressed every income revenue stream. … I think he’s definitely entitled to 6%.”