Make airport users pay for the airport
Editor, The Sun:
Seems it has been a while since issues of “who owns and operates” the Wakulla Airport have been addressed. Maybe it is time to do so again.
I receive a monthly financial report regarding the operations and expenditures of the airport. I noticed that Tarpine residents (users) are no longer making any type of contribution although they are the primary users of the grass runway.
Anyone who uses a boat ramp/launch area is expected to pay a fee. You can do this with each use or buy an annual pass, making a “donation” to the county coffers. Not so with the airport. The most recent “scheme/proposal” identified by David Edwards is to get land around the airport “donated” to bring the airport up to FDOT standards. Yeah, take those properties off the tax roll for the benefit of a very small group!! The county has such a surplus of funds this year and FDOT has expressed no interest in this project in the past.
In the November statement, the county paid for electric utilities, liability insurance, maintenance & repair and fuel. This was without ANY income from users adding to the county’s debt more than $900 in just one month. This appears to happen monthly.
I hope Commissioners have a detailed PUBLIC report how they will fund this boondoggle other than counting on “everyone else’s money.” At least go back to charging users (Tarpine) a fee to help cover the costs of maintaining the grass runway. Let’s not expect others to cover the costs and charge the USERS.
Val LaHart
Ochlockonee Bay
Editor’s Note: With her letter, Val LaHart included a pdf of Wakulla Airport expenses that she contends are evidence of “misuse of funds.”
