Remember Facts on Airport

As of Friday, February 3, 2012

Here’s a fact too many people either don’t get, or would rather we not know.

Fact: $1.8 million recently granted for runway extension at the Moore County Airport came from state highway taxes, not from so-called “tourism tax money,” as The Pilot reported, and not from “the feds,” or the FAA, as two writers claimed in “Airport: Two Views” (Jan. 29).

Fact: The FAA actually refused to waste any of their money to extend the runway.

Fact: Unable to get the money from FAA, the NCDOT took the cash out of the fund for highway construction and improvements.

Fact: Then, in a 3-1 vote, county commissioners sweetened the $1.8 million pot with another $200,000 in county tax money.

So much for airport management’s and Commissioner Nick Picerno’s perennial claim that no tax money is being used to grow the airport.

And how about those other deceptions, such as the claim that the FAA has “mandated” runway extension for safety reasons?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Fred and Dave Korb

Taxpayers to Stop Airport Waste

Whispering Pines

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danielbriggs 1 year, 3 months ago

Money for improvements come through NCDOT but are funded by the FAA. Because Moore County Airport does not offer FAA Part 121 or 141 operations, they cannot receive funds directly from the FAA. The NCDOT funds given to the airport are not from the "highway fund," but are FAA airport improvement funds controlled by NCDOT and can only be used for aviation related activities. Mr. Korb, I ask that you research your comments and maybe put all your effort into helping the community and not wasting your time on slandering one of our county's most valuable resources. Information from the FAA on airport improvement funds can be fund at the following link. http://www.faa.gov/airports/aip/overview/ Information from the NCDOT on the current improvements can be found on this link. http://www.ncdot.org/m/news/releases.html?news=aviation Dan Briggs DBA Aviation www.duganbriggs.com>

dcamp 1 year, 3 months ago

The Pilot says it near their Section B masthead in every issue: The function of a newspaper is "to print the news and raise hell." I think you're getting better at raising hell and getting worse on the news part. Letters to the Editor is certainly not a place where anyone can say anything - the letters are vetted before ever showing up in print. But the newspaper still has some responsibility to its readers to fact-check even Letters to the Editor. If you want to raise hell you seem to be doing just fine by publishing people's misconception of otherwise newsworthy events happening in Moore County. I believe Letters to the Editor is a great soapbox for people to get on it and shout at the moon if they want, but it comes with some responsibility and The Pilot's portion of that responsibility is sitting in a chair behind the Editor's desk.

Matt_Woodruff 1 year, 3 months ago

As the saying goes; You are entitled to your own opinion not your own facts. To say that these funds came from a "highway improvement" fund is a blatant lie.

States that participate in the State Block Grant Program assume responsibility for administering Airport Improvement Program grants at airports classified as "other than primary" airports that is, nonprimary commercial service, reliever, and general aviation airports. Each State is responsible for determining which locations will receive funds for ongoing project administration.

The FAA began this program in 1989 with three States: Illinois, Missouri, and North Carolina. AIR-21 authorized up to 10 States to participate. Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 156 contains program requirements. You should read it sometime.