If a landing at an airfield has a value (and it surely has), it should be paid.
In USA the tax collected from Avgas is used to subsidise the airports, the money is not simply stolen by the government. In socialist Europe that money is stolen by governments and used elsewhere, where it is more visible to the electorate. And we must pay the tax in the price of avgas and landing fees on top of that.
The ideal system in my opinion is WITHOUT fuel-tax and WITH landing fees.
Everyone of us would be more happy.
The idea the local authorities should pay for the running cost of an airport sounds too socialist to me. Where will they get the money from? The answer is simple, print them or order higher taxes.
One of my friends plays tennis. He must pay a hourly fee for the tennis court. Does the local authority pay his fees too? The same logic...
miroc