The quorum court’s budget committee met Monday afternoon and justices of the peace continued working toward major wage increases for county employees.
JPs first discussed funding for the airport. JP Jack Deaton referred to an email sent from Sandy Martin of the Carroll County Airport Commission (CCAC). “The airport wants another $20,000, and they’ve made all these threats about what’s going to happen,” he said.
The airport had requested a $60,000 budget, but the budget committee planned to deduct nearly $20,000 still owed to the county. That would cripple the airport’s ability to function, Martin maintained. Her email described a worst-case scenario if the airport cannot continue operations. “The decreasing funding support from the county over the past four years has seriously jeopardized the airport,” she wrote. “Consider the millions of dollars already invested in the airport and the cost and liability to the county should the airport close or cease operation.”
At the Nov. 16 meeting of the CCAC, Martin threatened to resign from the commission. “If they don’t accept the reality of it, we should seriously consider dissolving the commission,” she said. If the airport receives only $40,000, Martin said the airport would run out of money by April.
In discussing airport funding, Deaton said, “We don’t do threats.” He recounted the airport’s lack of progress in paying off a $20,000 note to the county. Deaton acknowledged, however, that the current commission has performed much better than the CCAC did under the chairmanship of Lonnie Clark, a term which ended a few years ago. “The old commission didn’t listen at all, but the new group out there has done much better,” he said.
Makita Williams of the county treasurer’s office added, “You can tell when the new group came along, and they started paying on the loan.”
The CCAC still faces some major expenses in hangar maintenance, and Deaton suggested increasing the airport funding from $40,000 to $50,000. The county would then forgive half of the remaining $20,000 owed by the airport, but Deaton promised to track closely the commission’s efforts to pay off the remaining debt, more than $9,000.
Deaton noted that more people are signing up for flight lessons, and suggested contacting flight instructors “to see if they would be interested in taking over the airport from the county.” JP Chuck Olson clarified that Deaton was referring to having someone else manage the airport, which the county would still own.
Although they gave the airport additional funds, JPs complained about the threats from the commission. “My only issue is we deal with thirty different departments, and not one of them threatens us,” Deaton said. “I don’t appreciate them going to the newspaper with threats, and if I’m on this committee next year, I’ll remember.”
JP Noreen Watson agreed, saying, “I don’t like all the pressure that was put on us.” She pointed out that lease fees for hangars are the lowest in the area, and the airport could increase revenues by raising those lease rates.
The court’s regular meeting is Monday, Dec. 17.