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County adjusts airport rent, fees Jackson County will raise the rent airlines pay for terminal space but lower the landing fees for aircraft using Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport. The hoped-for result is more money for the county and more flights by the airlines. Commissioners approved an agreement Wednesday with Skywest Airlines, which operates United Express flights between Medford and Portland and Medford and San Francisco. They authorized acting County Administrator Sue Slack to sign similar agreements with United Airlines and Horizon Air, an affiliate of Alaska Airlines. All the new leases start Jan. 1 and run through Dec. 21, 2003. Rent for terminal space will go to $17.95 per square foot, 90 percent of full-cost recovery, then increase to 92.5 percent in the second year and 95 percent the third year. Slack said that Medford's terminal rental rate per square foot had been $3 less than that charged by similar airports in Eugene, Klamath Falls, Redmond and the Tri-Cities in Washington state. But Medford's landing fees will drop from $1.28 to $1.22 per thousand pounds for each of the three scheduled airlines, and from $1.66 to $1.59 per thousand pounds for others who do not use the airport regularly. "The rate per pound is down, but the landing weight is up due to larger aircraft, so the total revenue will be greater," Slack said. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA