Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series of stories on the 50th anniversary of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

The Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is a city in itself, spanning 26.9 square miles. 

But the airport isn’t actually in Dallas or Fort Worth — it’s shared by four neighboring cities. Instead, it spills into parts of Grapevine, Irving, Euless and Coppell. 

Despite that, Dallas and Fort Worth still get millions in tax revenue every year through a revenue-sharing agreement, which is a key piece in the airport’s economic contribution to the region. 

Chris Poinsatte, chief financial officer at DFW, said the idea behind the tax revenue-sharing agreements is to grow business at the airport. The airport isn’t in Dallas or Fort Worth, with the exception of American Airlines.

“In order to get the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to agree that we should develop things on the airport, the idea of tax-sharing arrangements came up,” Poinsatte said.

A third of the tax revenues go to the host cities, and two-thirds go to Dallas and Fort Worth in proportion to ownership interest, according to the airport. 

In 2022, Fort Worth received $10.1 million and Dallas received $13.1 million from the sharing agreement. 

Euless generated the most tax revenue of the host cities because of the rental car center located in the city: $20,997,256. Tax revenue generated from the rental car facility is split equally between Euless, Dallas and Fort Worth, according to the airport. 

Mike Crum, director of Fort Worth’s public events department, said airport revenue is one of five revenue sources that go toward the city’s culture and tourism fund. That fund helps maintain and run the Fort Worth Convention Center, Will Rogers Memorial Center, Visit Fort Worth and Dickies Arena.

The fund also helps with a series of smaller economic development deals that attract additional hotels to the community. The revenue is important as the city embarks on projects such as its convention center expansion. 

“It’s a key piece of our financial picture,” Crum said. “Since recovering from the pandemic, we are in the midst of a pretty aggressive plan to build Fort Worth hospitality infrastructure within the next five to 10 years.”

Crum expects the city will receive $9 million to $10 million this year in tax revenue from the airport. And, as the airport begins to construct a new terminal, he sees more economic impact on the horizon. 

Poinsatte said building a new terminal, like the $1.63 billion Terminal F, wouldn’t add an earth-shaking amount to the revenue-sharing fund — he estimates about $140,000 in incremental taxes. But officials such as Crum see the larger picture of the airport’s economic impact — revenue sharing is a small piece of it. He knows increasing airport capacity ultimately leads to more money for the city. By one estimate, the DFW Airport produces $62.4 billion in annual gross product between airport operations, visitor spending and cargo activity. 

“Increasing the capacity of the airport means more flights,” Crum said. “More flights means more opportunity for people to come to this community. And more visitors means more economic impact.” 

Seth Bodine is a business and economic development reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at seth.bodine@fortworthreport.org and follow on X, formerly known as Twitter, @sbodine120. 

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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Here’s how much tax revenue DFW Airport generates for Fort Worth

by Seth Bodine, Fort Worth Report
January 16, 2024

<h1>Here’s how much tax revenue DFW Airport generates for Fort Worth</h1> <p class="byline">by Seth Bodine, Fort Worth Report <br />January 16, 2024</p> <p><em>Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series of stories on the 50th anniversary of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.</em></p> <p>The Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is a city in itself, spanning 26.9 square miles.&nbsp;</p> <p>But the airport isn’t actually in Dallas or Fort Worth — it’s shared by four neighboring cities. Instead, it spills into parts of Grapevine, Irving, Euless and Coppell.&nbsp;</p> <p>Despite that, Dallas and Fort Worth still get millions in tax revenue every year through a revenue-sharing agreement, which is a key piece in the airport’s economic contribution to the region.&nbsp;</p> <p>Chris Poinsatte, chief financial officer at DFW, said the idea behind the tax revenue-sharing agreements is to grow business at the airport. The airport isn't in Dallas or Fort Worth, with the exception of American Airlines. </p> <p>“In order to get the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to agree that we should develop things on the airport, the idea of tax-sharing arrangements came up,” Poinsatte said.</p> <p>A third of the tax revenues go to the host cities, and two-thirds go to Dallas and Fort Worth in proportion to ownership interest, according to the airport.&nbsp;</p> <p>In 2022, Fort Worth received $10.1 million and Dallas received $13.1 million from the sharing agreement.&nbsp;</p> <div class="wp-block-group has-light-gray-background-color has-background"> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">How much tax revenue is generated within each city? </h2> <p>How much do Fort Worth and Dallas receive? Here are 2022 numbers:&nbsp;<br /><strong>City of Grapevine – Total generated: $8,698,121</strong></p> <ul> <li>Grapevine - $6,860,561</li> <li>Dallas - $1,169,356</li> <li>Fort Worth - $668,204</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>City of Coppell – Total generated: $1,269,880</strong> <ul> <li>Coppell - $423,293</li> <li>Dallas - $538,737</li> <li>Fort Worth - $307,850</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>City of Irving – Total generated: $11,240,739</strong> <ul> <li>Irving - $4,159,483</li> <li>Dallas - $4,506,254</li> <li>Fort Worth - $2,575,002</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>City of Euless – Total generated: $20,997,256</strong> <ul> <li>Euless - $7,517,841</li> <li>Dallas - $6,913,318</li> <li>Fort Worth - $6,566,097</li> </ul> </li> </ul></div> <p>Euless generated the most tax revenue of the host cities because of the rental car center located in the city: $20,997,256. Tax revenue generated from the rental car facility is split equally between Euless, Dallas and Fort Worth, according to the airport.&nbsp;</p> <p>Mike Crum, director of Fort Worth’s public events department, said airport revenue is one of five revenue sources that go toward the city’s culture and tourism fund. That fund helps maintain and run the Fort Worth Convention Center, Will Rogers Memorial Center, Visit Fort Worth and Dickies Arena.</p> <p>The fund also helps with a series of smaller economic development deals that attract additional hotels to the community. The revenue is important as the city embarks on projects such as its convention center expansion.&nbsp;</p> <p>“It’s a key piece of our financial picture,” Crum said. “Since recovering from the pandemic, we are in the midst of a pretty aggressive plan to build Fort Worth hospitality infrastructure within the next five to 10 years.”</p> <p>Crum expects the city will receive $9 million to $10 million this year in tax revenue from the airport. And, as the airport begins to construct a new terminal, he sees more economic impact on the horizon.&nbsp;</p> <p>Poinsatte said building a new terminal,<a href="https://fortworthreport.org/2023/05/16/dfw-airport-announces-4-8-billion-investment-plans-to-build-terminal-f/"> like the $1.63 billion Terminal F, </a>wouldn’t add an earth-shaking amount to the revenue-sharing fund — he estimates about $140,000 in incremental taxes. But officials such as Crum see the larger picture of the airport’s economic impact — revenue sharing is a small piece of it. He knows increasing airport capacity ultimately leads to more money for the city. By one estimate,<a href="https://fortworthreport.org/2024/01/14/how-the-dallas-fort-worth-airport-shaped-north-texas-over-50-years/"> the DFW Airport produces $62.4 billion in annual gross product </a>between airport operations, visitor spending and cargo activity.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Increasing the capacity of the airport means more flights,” Crum said. “More flights means more opportunity for people to come to this community. And more visitors means more economic impact.”&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Seth Bodine is a business and economic development reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at seth.bodine@fortworthreport.org and follow on X, formerly known as Twitter, </em><a href="https://twitter.com/sbodine120"><em>@sbodine120</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p> <p><em>At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy</em><a href="https://fortworthreport.org/about/fort-worth-report-editorial-independence-policy/"><em> </em><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://fortworthreport.org/2024/01/16/heres-how-much-tax-revenue-dfw-airport-generates-for-fort-worth/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://fortworthreport.org">Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=102892" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

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