The only plan likely to fly at Burbank now is money. (Politics).

DESPITE the rare convergence of Burbank Airport "stakeholders" in Washington, D.C. Feb. 25, and their efforts to re-ignite long-stalled plans to build a replacement terminal, there's really only one entity that's going to decide what happens next: the economy.

Marion Blakey, a top Federal Aviation Administration official, agreed to meet with representatives from the San Fernando Valley, including Congressman Adam Schiff, airport authority commission members and officials from the tri-cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

Burbank City Council members called the meeting and got everyone else to go along. The goal: to convince Blakey to appoint a top official to help steer renewed talks, guiding the panel on complicated issues relating to FAA jurisdiction over local land use issues.

That didn't happen. Instead, Blakey firmly and clearly identified the issue as a local one.

What's more, she ordered the airport to either build the terminal or pay back the $48 million it got from the FAA for that project within 60 days.

Perhaps before Sept. 11, ensuing airline bankruptcies and a country now bracing for the impact of war abroad, repayment of those funds wouldn't have posed such a problem.

But since Sept. 11, the Burbank Airport has had to lower its parking fees to compete with a new, privately-owned lot adjacent to the terminal. It's shelling out roughly $30 million to implement post-Sept. 11 security upgrades. Flights and passenger levels are down, and the city of Burbank is pushing for a November ballot measure to increase its portion of airport parking tax revenues.

"We certainly are doing okay with our reserves," said Airport Authority President, Chris Holden. "But we are having to reach to do a project (the upgrades) that we didn't anticipate. We are getting hit from all ends. The airport is a business, and we are trying to keep it up and operate for the people of the region, but everyone has pressures, so the bottom line is we have to do the financially correct thing."

Although no one is ready to say it on the record, that "thing" will probably involve most of the vacant 130-acre parcel of former B-6 property not earmarked for a new terminal. The Airport Authority could lease or sell the land.

The airport has toyed with the notion of putting a new terminal on a separate, smaller chunk of land, which it owns outright, but even Holden admitted that is not a viable option.

"That land is just not big enough. I don't see it as a good alternative," Holden said.

Meanwhile, Schiff has agreed to take the lead on drafting a plan for meeting Blakey's demands. But the clock is ticking. And considering the shape of the economy and the time and resources the FAA has already put into the Burbank effort--with very few results to show for it--the agency is likely to be anxious to send some extra dough to airports ready to roll on their own projects.

"I think her (Blakey's) perspective was she viewed that $46 million as tax payers' money, and, with the budgets as they are as tight as they are, there is a lot of pressure on them by other airports looking for funding," Holden said.

Greuel Would Rule

Off the record, sources say Wendy Greuel has the support of Mayor James Hahn and the Valley business community to head up an ad-hoc committee on business tax reform.

It was Greuel who introduced a pre-Valentine's Day motion to form such a committee, which she hopes would expedite adoption by the city council of reforms recommended months ago by the city's Business Tax Advisory Committee (BTAC). Among the list of reforms is the elimination of so-called "pass through" taxes and a study on alternatives for replacing the widely despised gross receipts tax.

Whether such a committee would ever materialize is a wild card, however, largely due to the state's $34.6 billion budget deficit and a plan to possibly take back the roughly $147 million the city receives in state vehicle license fees.

City Council President Alex Padilla has the soul authority to approve the formation of such as committee, and, according to his communications deputy, David Gershwin, that issue has taken a back seat to the council's vote on the War in Iraq, the March 4 municipal elections and the larger issue of state budget cuts.

"It's on the back burner, and there has been no decision to form such a committee yet," said Gershwin. "And, with the current budget crisis we have to figure out if we are even in a position to make cuts, such as eliminating the gross receipts tax."

Translation, don't hold your breath.

However, there seems to be some disconnect between Greuel's office and Padilla's.

According to Matt Szabo, Greuel's press secretary, Padilla and the full council have already agreed to form the committee.

"The council already passed a resolution supporting the formation of the committee," Szabo said. "He (Padilla) voted for it. The only thing that's left is to appoint someone. Which could happen in five minutes."

Szabo did confirm that he is leaving Greuel's office within days and will serve as the new press secretary for City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Szabo said Delgadillo's long-time special assistant and spokesman, Ben Austin, is now working for Rob Reiner, an actor and, of late, a high-profile leader in the cause to block the Ahmanson Ranch development on the west end of the San Fernando Valley.

Staff reporter Jacqueline Fox can be reached at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].