By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two Greenbrier Valley Airport Authority members with ties to Gov. Jim Justice’s Greenbrier resort asked the Ethics Commission on Thursday if it would be permissible for them to vote on a proposal to create an airport Convention and Visitors Bureau — something Justice adamantly opposes over its potential to raise hotel occupancy tax rates in the county.
Proposed creation of an airport Convention and Visitors Bureau has been a source of controversy in the county for more than a year, primarily over plans for the CVB to use revenue from the increased hotel occupancy taxes to fund minimum revenue guarantees to entice airlines to serve the airport.
Minimum revenue guarantees allow smaller airports to attract air service by guaranteeing to pay airlines a break-even amount on flights where the passenger load is low. …
