Cleveland proposes extra car rental fees for airport customers

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration has proposed new charges for customers renting cars at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

The legislation was introduced at this week’s city council meeting.

“It’s a little bit premature for us to do a deep dive on it,” said council president Blain Griffin. “As always we want to make sure the impact it would have on our customers.”

When reached by email, a city spokesperson directed 19 News to airport officials; the airport spokesperson also said it was too early to discuss specifics.

The legislation calls for each individual rental car company at the airport to collect a “customer facility charge,” a daily fee on each rental.

The fees would then be turned over to the city, but it’s unclear exactly what the administration is hoping to use the additional revenue on.

The language reads as follows:

Proceeds of the Customer Facility Charge shall be deposited by the Airport into a segregated account for the collection of the CFCs and separate from Airport Revenues, to be used solely for:

(1) The planning, development, financing, construction and operation of the Rental Car Facility, Rental Car Facility improvements and repairs, and related infrastructure, which are or will be deemed as a Special Facility or Special Facilities by the Airport.

(2) Rental Car Facility operations and maintenance expenses.

It would seem the biggest impact would be on visitors to Cleveland; they make up the majority of car rental customers at the airport.

“I would say anything to keep the costs down would be beneficial, especially for people who have to travel for [work],” one traveler told 19 News. “I would think you have the possibility of other metro areas doing the same. If that trend continues, then that’s more money out of your pocket.”

A non-elected city council staffer suggested to 19 News that the proposal came as a surprise.

Griffin, who admitted many of the details still needed to be hashed out, vowed council would consider the legislation fairly.

“We strongly believe that anytime you have an opportunity to bring revenue in, those are things we want to look at. But we also want to make sure we’re fair to the customer. We want to make sure that it’s efficient, that this helps our airport operate more efficiently.”

There’s no timetable on the legislation, which has been referred for administrative review.

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