In a unanimous 5-0 vote, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, the county’s board of supervisors agreed to loan the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport $1,659,888 to begin construction and to complete a rental car quick-turnaround facility, or also known as a consolidated rental car facility (conrac).

The loan will be repaid through customer facility charges (CFC), according to meeting documents from May 22. The CFC is currently $10 per car rental contract from the companies operating on-airport locations, according to Richard Howell, general manager of the airport.

The loan will come from the county’s general fund, the meeting documents state. The method to repay the loan will be through the revenues generated by the CFC program. The loan amount is expected to be repaid in less than 12 years at an annual loan payment of $200,000. The annual revenues from the CFC program have averaged $230,000 over the past five years.

Along with the staging and wash facilities, the current proposed project will also include an area for use by the rental car companies to install a refueling facility at their own expense.

The conrac at San Luis Obispo has been in discussion since the late 90s and would stage, clean, wash and return rental vehicles to each company’s pool. In 2002, the board of supervisors approved the purchase of property at a cost of $1,476,000 — a loan that has since been paid off.

— By Joanne M. Tucker