Habersham airport fee proposal advanced, but the prices and county outcome remain unclear

Habersham County’s Airport Commission unanimously approved proposed fiscal year 2023 airport fee changes at its May 9, 2022 meeting and directed the package toward the County Board of Commissioners. The commission’s approved meeting minutes record the vote, but do not say what airport users, tenants or aviation businesses would have paid under the proposal.

The unresolved details matter because airport fees can affect the cost of using airport facilities and services for pilots, aircraft owners, tenants and aviation-related businesses. Without the affected categories or dollar amounts, residents cannot assess whether the proposal was a routine adjustment or a more substantial change; without a county decision or start date, they cannot determine whether it became policy.

The matter first appeared on the Airport Commission’s May 9 agenda as proposed FY2023 fee changes for consideration. Later that day, according to the approved minutes, commissioners approved the proposal unanimously and said it would be presented to the Board of Commissioners. That sequence establishes that the airport body advanced a proposal, not that the county’s governing board completed its review.

The Airport Commission’s position, as reflected in its action, was to approve the proposed changes and send them forward for county consideration. The Board of Commissioners was identified as the next recipient of the package, but the cited materials do not record its response. No public position from airport users, tenants, businesses or county commissioners is contained in the agenda or minutes.

The commission vote is a completed act, and the fee package’s presentation to county commissioners was contemplated by the approved minutes. The rates themselves remain unknown: the minutes do not state proposed fee amounts or rate changes, and the agenda does not supply those figures. Nor do these records establish an effective date, adoption of any particular charge, or whether county commissioners approved, amended or rejected the proposal.

The next public step is to locate Board of Commissioners meeting records showing whether the FY2023 airport fee proposal was presented and what commissioners did with it. Even if such action is found, a complete fee schedule would still be needed to show the rates airport users would have faced. Until then, the county decision, any revisions and whether a new schedule ever took effect remain undecided in the public record cited here.