


Here are some new Images showing progress from the new airport in Bay County.
You can also visit a New website about the New Bay County Florida Airport by visiting
www.NewPCAirport.com
By Deborah Buckhalter
Published: July 22, 2008
Jackson County Commissioners on Tuesday approved the Compass Lake in the Hills Municipal Special Taxing Unit assessment of $135 per parcel in the 6,344-lot subdivision, the same amount as last year.
Citizens entered the discussion with concerns about how the subdivision’s Property Owners Association’s manages the budget overall.
The POA, by contract, has managed the MSTU funds since the the taxing authority has been in existence, and has come under criticism for the past three or four years.
Some who pay taxes into the fund have alleged that the money is sometimes spent on uses not authorized in the ordinance that set up the MSTU.
After reviewing complaints and records this fiscal year, Jackson County Commissioners have taken greater control of the budget for the coming year and going forward.
Now, for instance, the POA is given a 20 percent management fee and the rest of the tax money is held in a special account to be drawn on as approved expenditures are made. Until this year, all the money collected was handed over to the POA in a lump sum, with little county oversight into how closely expenditures matched the budget submitted each year.
Under the newly-negotiated management contract and closer county control, budget amendment will be required if the POA wishes to deviate from the line-item MSTU budget of roughly $860,000 approved Tuesday.
The two big-ticket items approved for purchase are a dump truck, with a down-payment of roughly $25,000 approved Tuesday, and $43,000 worth of new equipment for the volunteer fire department. The lion’s share of the fire department’s allocation will go toward outfitting a new brush truck for the crew.
The recent approval of the state budget that included $12 million from the state will fund the first extension of the runway. Day one of operation for the new airport will include a full 10,000 foot runway. In addition, all the preparatory work will be done so that when they need to lengthen the runway to the full 12,000 feet, it will take a mere matter of months.
Something else that is cool about the construction of the new airport is that the terminal will be LEED certified using all recycled material. The stormwater treatment will be 50% greater than what is required.
There will be an additional 1400 acres outside the airport property that will be used for commercial development.