Commissioner Brannon: bed tax funds not meant soley for airline (with DOCUMENT)

Walton County Commissioner Scott Brannon says he was misrepresented earlier this week when it was reported he said his board would not support efforts to bring Southwest Airlines to Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Okaloosa County.

Brannon attended Wednesday’s meeting of the Bay County airport authority. It was reported that Brannon told the board that the half-cent increase to Walton County’s bed tax was designated solely to help bring Southwest to the Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport now under construction.

Those comments conflicted with a resolution the County Commission approved earlier this year. The resolution stated that Walton officials supported efforts to bring a low-cost air carrier to either Okaloosa or Bay counties.

Brannon disputed those comments in a news release issued Friday afternoon.

“At no point in time did I state that Walton County would not support Okaloosa County in its bid for Southwest Airlines,” Brannon said the statement. “Moreover, I never indicated the resolution adopting the half-cent tourist development tax was intended strictly for Bay County. I was clear that it was Walton County’s intent to bring low-cost air service to the region.”

However, a partial transcript of the meeting released Friday shows Brannon believed the County Commission was more supportive of Bay County’s efforts than Okaloosa’s.

“Well, I think the resolution was in the region, is the way the resolution read,” the transcript quotes Brannon as saying. “I think that, now to the particulars of how that, the intention was, I believe, to partner with this effort. I know there are other efforts going on in the region, but as evident I think of you guys coming over and meeting with the other commissioners, I think that the Board of County Commissioners support of the Bay County International Airport is evident in that.”

Bill Cramer, vice president of the Bay County airport authority, asked Brannon specifically whether Walton’s bed tax money was designated for the general region or Bay County in particular. His impression of the meeting was that Brannon said the bed tax money was meant strictly to help Bay.

“There was a broad discussion of the relationship and what we hoped it would be,” Cramer said. “We’re certainly interested in partnering with Walton County and having them on the board. So it was in the context of that subject matter that the issue came up and the distinct impression I got was that the money would at least in part be designated to our airport.”

Dawn Moliterno, president of the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce, also attended Wednesday’s airport authority meeting. She said Brannon did not tell the board the tax would be used only for Bay County.

“He was absolutely misquoted on this,” Moliterno wrote in an e-mail to the Daily News. “In fact, the authority was trying to get him to make that pledge and he wouldn't do it. Scott said the tax was to be used to bring a low-cost carrier (Southwest) to the region — regardless of which airport it may choose to serve.”

Others also have come to Brannon’s defense. Walton Commissioner Larry Jones said he read a copy of the meeting’s transcript and does not believe Brannon was excluding Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

“Basically, what he said reflected our position that we state in our resolution, that we support a low-cost carrier coming to the Northwest Florida region,” Jones said. “(The resolution) does not specifically exclude anyone. It specifically identifies the new airport in Panama City as well as Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Okaloosa County. I think you’ll find that Commissioner Brannon, based on his comments that I read and understand, I don’t think his position contradicts what the board’s position was and continues to be, and that is we support a low-cost carrier in the region and the funds raised through the tourist develop tax will go to that effort.”

County Commission Chairwoman Sara Comander also issued a news release Friday supporting Brannon.

“Unfortunately, there has been some misunderstanding of this issue. Remarks have been attributed to Commissioner Brannon he did not in fact make,” Comander wrote. “To be perfectly clear, the WCBCC (Walton County Board of County Commissioners) and Commissioner Brannon speak with one voice on this issue. The commission supports regional efforts to attract low-cost air service regardless of which airport in the region is chosen.”