September 4, 2007

Oxford County
Board of Commissioners and Budget Committee
26 Western Avenue
South Paris, ME 04281

RE: Request for Airport Funding in 2008 County Budget

Dear Commissioners and Committee Members,

The Town of Bethel hereby requests $10,000 for support of Bethel Regional Airport in 2008. As an alternative, the town requests an amount equal to the net financial support provided to the Oxford County airport through county-wide taxation in the 2008 county budget, whether that figure is higher or lower than $10,000.

It is the town’s position that county funding of three public airports in Oxford County should be equitable since the county tax base as a whole is encumbered by any level of airport funding.

An acceptable alternative to this position would be for the county to begin extricating itself from the airport business by contacting the Federal Aviation Administration and Maine Department of Transportation to request a scoping meeting for discussion of same.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Respectfully Submitted,

Scott G. Cole
Town Manager