By Chris Potter
BELMONT — Should Allegany County taxpayers help fund the Wellsville Municipal Airport?
The question was the subject of a thorny debate Monday, with legislators on both sides of the issue making passionate cases during a near 80-minute Committee of the Whole meeting.
The Town of Wellsville requested the county kick in $75,000 towards airport expenses late last year. The number was pared down to $50,000 during the county budget process, and that figure has been earmarked in the county budget pending approval by the Board of Legislators.
Though the board did vote to push the matter forward to Ways and Means by a 9-3 margin, it was clear the policy change was not a slam dunk and further debate may occur during the establishment of a local law authorizing county dollars for the airport.
“We all understand the value of the airport and its importance, but the airport is not in danger of closing,” said Brooke Harris (R-Alfred). “They’ve got a balanced budget for 2019. I don’t see a necessity for this board to participate in this funding. It is an open-ended request. If we do so, we won’t really have any substantive oversight. It was difficult enough for us to get a copy of their annual budget. I think it’s irresponsible of us, being stewards of county dollars, to open ourselves up to potentially infinite funding of the Wellsville Airport.”
Joining Harris in strong opposition was John Ricci (R-Cuba), who said he didn’t like anything about the proposal, including the way it was brought forth exclusively in executive session before Monday.
“I think it would a classic example of opening Pandora’s box. We have 28 other towns, nine villages, all of which have their own credible needs and wants, many of which bring outside money into the county, and we don’t need to be picking winners and losers like Albany does to see which ones we will subsidize,” Ricci said. To read the rest of the story, click HERE.
