ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Crisis Aid to Be Sought From Airport : Recovery: Task force will seek ways of raising revenue or helping county by other means, including selling John Wayne facility.

A task force will be formed to determine whether more revenue can be wrung from John Wayne Airport to help Orange County with its bankruptcy woes, Airport Director Jan Mittermeier said Wednesday.

“It is going to be a range of ideas, revenue-producing or any other way the airport can help the (county’s) general fund situation,” Mittermeier said after disclosing her plans to the county Airport Commission.

She said the task force should present its recommendations within four months after exploring options for raising money or selling the airport outright.

County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy has said he has no plans to sell the airport to private interests in the short term, but reserves the option over the long run as a revenue-producing measure.

John Wayne Airport is one of the county’s most profitable assets, with revenue topping $58 million last year, up from $55 million in 1993, from sources as diverse as commercial filming permits and parking fees.

But tapping into the bounty is harder than it sounds. Cities and counties are prevented by federal restrictions from plundering airport revenue. Generally, airports are limited to reimbursing local governments for their costs or for repayment of invested funds.

Still, a San Francisco-based lawyer specializing in airport sales and revenue-producing measures, Zane Grisham, told commissioners that airports can sometimes find costs that might have been overlooked as a way of funneling money to local governments.

Mittermeier said many of the ideas already have been examined. John Wayne, she said, is not as well positioned to help the county as many would like.

The airport has always been self-supporting, never receiving an infusion of cash from the county that it could suddenly start to pay back. In addition, the airport has to repay $252 million in loans to cover construction of its new terminal and parking structures. Little would be left.

“It makes it difficult to structure revenue in such a way in which it can be used for reasons other than bonds,” Mittermeier said.

While Popejoy has indicated he has no immediate desire to sell the airport, the facility could be offered as collateral to the state in return for guarantees on $255 million in recovery notes considered critical to making good on the county’s debt obligations.

The selling of John Wayne Airport is supported by the Reason Foundation, the libertarian think tank that has been a driving force in urging county supervisors to sell assets, cut staff and privatize services to navigate a way through the crisis.

The airport, packaged with a commercial airport conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, could bring as much as $500 million in badly needed revenue, the foundation has estimated.

Short of being sold, some airports around the nation have had varying degrees of success in raising money for cash-strapped local governments. The city of Los Angeles, for instance, was permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration to tap $54 million from its international airport. The move helped fulfill Mayor Richard Riordan’s campaign pledge to use airport fees to help pay for more police officers.

But the FAA was careful to point out that Los Angeles’ use of airport funds was a singular event, derived from the sale of some surplus airport land for a new freeway.

The city was not to be allowed to take airport funds in the future, though its officials say they are still trying to find a way.