Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Airport Projects topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County staff: FAA funding rule change doubles St. Mary's share of some airport projects even as master plan total falls
Summary
County staff told the Board of County Commissioners that a recent change in how federal grants apply will raise the county's matching share on FAA-funded airport projects from 2.5 percent to 5 percent, even though the airport master plan total was reduced after reprogramming of old projects.
St. Mary's County commissioners were told May 14 that a recent federal funding adjustment will raise the county's required match on some airport projects while the overall master plan dollar total fell after reprogramming.
County staff said the airport master plan previously listed at about $24,000,000 will be reprogrammed and shown as roughly $16.9 million under a consolidated new project. At the same time, staff said a change in the federal/state grant split will increase the county's share from 2.5 percent to 5 percent on the affected FAA-funded projects.
Why it matters: increasing the county share raises near-term county funding needs for projects that rely on FAA grants, even as the net project totals shift. County staff said the change stemmed from special federal legislation that altered how FAA grant pools were treated; absent that legislation the grant share would have reverted to a 90% federal / 5% state / 5% county split.
George Erickson, a county staff member, explained that the reprogramming also removed several old, unprocessed airport projects from prior balances and rolled eligible work into a new airport master plan project. Erickson told commissioners that the reworked master plan reduces the overall six-year total to about $16.9 million from the $24 million number that appeared in earlier drafts.
Erickson said the work to clear out the prior balance and reprogram funds will be done by budget amendment and other actions at the board meeting the next day. He cautioned the board that the county share would double on the affected years (from 2.5% to 5%) but added, "Doubling sounds a lot worse, but it's it's affordable." The county administrator and finance staff said they would include the changes in the revised CIP and in next week's reconciliation.
County staff also described a separate airport wetland mitigation project that had been listed among older FAA projects; the FAA cleared old projects and asked the county to reapply for the remaining design and construction funds as a discrete project so the grant and project accounting would be clearer.
Ending: Commissioners agreed to have staff bring back formal budget amendments and a revised CIP at the next meeting so the board could review the reprogramming and the fiscal effect of the higher county match on affected years.
