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Florida to sell one of its three executive planes
Oct 20, 2008 - The Miami Herald

Florida plans to sell one of its executive planes in an effort to cut costs.

Beginning next week, the Department of Management Services will run ads on aviation websites to sell the state's 1985 Beechcraft King Air 300 turboprop plane. The state will take open bids until Nov. 25 and hopes to complete a sale by the end of the year, Management Services spokeswoman Cathy Schroeder said.

''The state is taking the oldest turboprop plane and advertising it for as much as the state can get for it,'' said Sterling Ivey, Gov. Charlie Crist's press secretary.
Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said that as Alaska's governor, she sold a wasteful corporate jet by listing it on eBay. The plane actually sold to an entrepreneur after it failed to sell on the online auction site.
Florida's announcement of the sale follows an audit by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, which said reducing the executive fleet could save $700,000 to $1.8 million, depending on various options studied. Florida does not have plans to sell its other planes: another turboprop and a Cessna jet, Crist's preferred plane.
State officials did not know how much money Florida would save by selling the plane, but flying one person round-trip from Miami to Tallahassee costs $8,613 on King Air, according to the OPPAGA report. Commercial airfare totals about $726.
Sen. J.D. Alexander has led a yearlong push to reduce the state's executive fleet as part of a cost-cutting measure. On Monday, he sent a letter to Department of Management Services Secretary Linda South, proposing that Florida sell one of its turboprops and the jet.
''In light of our current economic conditions and future financial challenges, it is imperative that the department use its executive authority to take immediate action to downsize the state's aircraft fleet,'' Alexander wrote.
The state had been in talks to sell the aircraft before the OPPAGA report and independent of Alexander's letter, Schroeder said.
'' We've been taking a look at selling one of the aircraft for quite some time,'' Schroeder said. ``The OPPAGA report confirmed thoughts we had early on that we have to sell one of the aircraft.''
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