GARY | The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority approved a 3 percent increase in hangar rental fees Thursday.

It marks the first such fee increase in three years despite a 17 percent increase in the consumer price index during those years, airport Deputy Director Steven Landry said.

The airport has about 60 hangars that it leases for small private aircraft.

The airport authority has spent months cutting expenses and looking for ways to raise revenues. Tax caps mandated under House Bill 1001 will cut tax revenues for the airport and the City of Gary in 2009.

The authority approved a 2009 budget of $3.1 million in October, which is $500,000 less than the 2008 budget of $3.6 million.