"Lubbock airport parking contract raises concerns for city"

Wednesday, February 12, 2003
 
Airport parking contract raises concerns for city
By JOHN FUQUAY
The Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal


City Council members are expected to receive an audit today that criticizes
the city's management of a parking contract at Lubbock International
Airport, The Avalanche-Journal has learned.

The audit has been under way since last spring, when council members balked
at renewing the airport's contract with Chicago-based APCOA/Standard Parking
Inc.

"Payments to the city are substantially correct," said City Attorney Anita
Burgess, who supervised the audit.

"My recommendation is that the city needs to strengthen its contract
compliance and oversight of the parking contract."

At least three irregularities were found by the audit.

APCOA, which manages airport parking systems across the country, was
required to submit an independent annual audit to the city, yet sources said
those audits never occurred.

APCOA provides the city a percentage of airport parking revenue, and a
perceived under payment of about $400,000 went undetected for several
months.

The payment was later de termined to be a bookkeeping error, but sources
told The A-J Tuesday the error should have been questioned immediately.

The city relies on monthly vehicle counts from APCOA to verify revenue, yet
Burgess said APCOA's counts were so unreliable that she had to rework the
counts from estimates of daily airline boardings.

The compliance issues drew the council's attention when APCOA wanted to
renew its contract after it expired last spring. APCOA claimed it was losing
$30,000 monthly on the contract, and council members questioned why the
company wanted to renew.

The city entered a five-year, $7 million contract with APCOA in 1997. APCOA
was to pay the city after deducting its operational expenses. Midway into
the contract's second year, APCOA told the city it was losing money and
wanted to renegotiate.

The city eventually reduced APCOA's contractual obligations to it by
$849,000, and APCOA agreed to install about $400,000 of upgrades to parking
system equipment.

The contract has been re newed monthly since it expired. Council members are
hoping the audit will help determine whether to renew a contract with APCOA,
use open bidding to pick a new contractor or op erate airport parking
internally.


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