The city of Columbia has filed a response to a lawsuit it's facing over an air service agreement with American Airlines.
The Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit last month, accusing the city of violating the gift clause of the Missouri Constitution when it agreed to pay American Airlines $750,000 to add a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina from the Columbia Regional Airport. The conservative nonprofit think tank filed the lawsuit on behalf of two people in the 13th Circuit Court.
The city's 17-page response, filed Monday, denies most of the allegations made by the original lawsuit.
The court filing said the $750,000 payment to American Airlines is not an unconstitutional gift because it serves valid purposes, including promoting commerce, local and regional transportation access, economic development, airport utilization and public benefit.
The city's response also said the plaintiffs' case alleges "speculative future injury based on contingent future payments that may never occur."
If the new route from Columbia to Charlotte is successful, American Airlines will not need the $750,000 from the city, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting. The city made the payment agreement to guarantee American Airlines would make revenue by bringing the Charlotte flight to Columbia.
Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to stop the city's payment to American Airlines and prevent the city from making similar deals in the future.
"Goldwater is working on behalf of regular taxpayers to ensure their money is not used to shoulder the business risk of a multi-billion-dollar company," said Tony Napolitano, an attorney at the Goldwater Institute, in a June news release.
In its response, the city said plaintiffs have not alleged a direct expenditure of public funds, an increased tax burden or legally cognizable injury to taxpayers.
The $750,000 promised to American Airlines is only a portion of the $1.5 million that has been guaranteed to the company.
The Columbia City Council approved using $750,000 from the city's Transportation Sales Tax to pay American Airlines to guarantee at least one flight per day from Columbia to Charlotte, running from May 2026 through May 2027. Other private businesses and organizations agreed to contribute an additional $750,000 to American to guarantee this route.
The lawsuit only concerns the $750,000 the city is using from sales taxes.
The first flight from Charlotte landed in Columbia on May 21.
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