Funding solution needed

As discussions continue between the Northeast Ohio Regional Airport and the Ashtabula County Commissioners, it is clear that the airport’s future must eventually land at self-sufficiency.

The issue at hand revolves around the Airport Authority’s budget. Essentially, officials have three months worth of funding to get through the next six months. The authority has asked the county for additional funding and also has announced plans to idle the airport in the coming months, which will mean a reduction of some services in the back half of 2018. ...

At the end of the day, finding a way to get through this rough patch and settling on an appropriation from the county that fits its budget and helps the airport authority move forward is important. We want to see the airport remain viable, but if the airport cannot be self-sustaining without a huge influx of money the county simply cannot afford, some difficult decisions will be coming in the future.

The Airport Authority has done a good job guiding the facility to this point — taking advantage of grants and keeping the books free of crushing future debt — and it will take that creative thinking to find a suitable resolution to this dilemma because the county simply does not have the resources to make up all the difference.

Read the full editorial from the Ashtabula Star Beacon at bit.ly/2ujAf2M