Commissioners have no plans to increase tax levy for airports

Washington County commissioners decided to keep the tax levy that funds operations at the Weiser and Midvale airports at the same rate during recent discussions on the fiscal year 2021 budget.
 The county collects property taxes to fund operations at both municipal airports. In FY 2020, the tax levy raised $58,560, with $53,560 of that going to cover operational costs at Weiser’s airport and $5,000 for Midvale’s airport.
 The city of Weiser submits an annual budget for the amount it will cost to operate the airport, and the county levies the taxes to pay for it. From the funds raised, the county gives the Midvale airport $5,000 annually, an amount that hasn’t changed in years.
 Midvale officials lobbied for additional funding for the airport when they met with commissioners in March. They proposed increasing the annual payment from the $5,000 the airport has received annually to $25,000 or $30,000.
 Midvale airport manager Karson Craig said the airport will be looking at a major runway resurfacing project in four or five years, and the $5,000 won’t cover the matching funds if the airport can get a FAA grant. He estimated the cost to do the runway work would be around $300,000.
 Craig was joined by Midvale city councilmember Katie Bane at the March meeting with commissioners. They also questioned why 90 percent of the tax revenue collected by the county went to one airport. Neither has followed up with commissioners since the March meeting.
 Commissioner Kirk Chandler said the major improvements that have been completed at the Weiser airport over the past few years, such as a new equipment building and replacement of the runway lighting, were funded through FAA grants. In FY 2021, the Weiser airport expects to get $420,000 in state and federal grants.
 Commissioners suggested the Midvale airport also should apply for grants for any major projects needed in the future.
 Chandler said the city of Weiser provides a quarterly report on funds expended for the airport, but Midvale hasn’t provided the county with a detailed accounting of how the money has been spent at the airport. In the past, the $5,000 annual payment for the airport was put in the city budget.
 “We told them that if they are going to keep getting it they have got to account for it, so they set up a line item,” he said. “They are supposed to be sending us that accounting. We haven’t seen that.”
 Craig previously said most of the money the Midvale airport receives has been spent on the nearly 2,900-foot runway. The maintenance on the asphalt strip includes patching and filling cracks. The airport is important to the Upper Country and the runway is 20 years old and reaching the end of its life, he said.
 Weiser and Midvale are the only two paved airstrips in the county. Cambridge does not have a municipal airport.
 Following their discussion on the county tax levy for the airports, commissioners said they would not seek to increase it in FY 2021.
 “If we just leave it like it is, I would think we’d be fine,” Chandler said.