The Schuylkill County commissioners approved a payment of $44,264 to the Schuylkill County Airport Authority for a loan payment but not without criticism.

“I’m not quite sure why the county and the taxpayers have to keep footing the bill for this if it’s not self sufficient. Sell it off,” Jeff Dunkel, a Palo Alto resident said Wednesday.

An agenda item says “the Schuylkill County Airport Authority does not have sufficient funds” to pay for the loan for $350,000.

The county guaranteed the loan in 2018 used to extend the airport runway from 4,600 feet to 5,101 feet, Bill Willard, airport manager, said, adding the authority appreciates the assistance.

“We wouldn’t have been able to extend the runway without their help,” he said Tuesday.

The authority received a $1.6 million grant for the project. Willard said the grant amount was a 70/30 split with 70 percent being funded while the remainder was a local match.

Willard said the runway is the “fourth longest runway in Northeast Pennsylvania.”

Commissioners voted in July 2020 to pay a $44,264 loan payment.

Previously, Willard said the authority had “operational budget constraints.”

He cited insurance costs that are “more than our operating budget,” increasing fuel and electric costs.