The McKinney mayor debate had a packed audience on Tuesday night. And the McKinney airport expansion drew a strong reaction from the crowd.
People started booing when the airport came up during the debate hosted by the Collin County Young Republicans. McKinney voters struck down a $200 million bond to pay for the expansion two years ago.
But the city council still moved forward with the project with other funding sources. Taylor Willingham, a local attorney and one of the four McKinney mayor candidates, said he wouldn’t have done that if he was mayor at the time.
“When the voters said no, as a council member, as a mayor, you stop,” Willingham said. “You do not continue to move forward and push something that people don't want.”
Willingham said the county should have been involved in funding the airport expansion. He said it’s unfair that McKinney taxpayers have to foot the bill for the project alone when the whole county will benefit from the airport.
Dr. Matt Rostami, a retina surgeon who’s running for McKinney mayor, said at the debate expanding the airport will burden taxpayers.
“It will bring money,” Rostami said. “It will increase the property values. That's true. But you will be paying more property taxes.”
Bill Cox, a former city council member who’s running for mayor, said during the debate that the city council listened to the will of the voters, which is why the council is using sales tax dollars instead of property tax revenue for the project.
“They heard what the citizens said,” Cox said. “They’ve dropped the idea of taxpayer funded expansion.”
The $75 million expansion is expected to start construction in May, with the terminal opening sometime next year. Cox is chair of the McKinney planning and zoning commission, which approved the site plan for the expansion in January after the city council passed a resolution expressing its support of the plan.
Former state Representative Scott Sanford said during the mayoral debate the airport expansion should be paused until the new mayor and city council members are elected in May.
“The development will span decades, far beyond my lifetime,” Sanford said. “It's too big. It's too important to rush.”
Early voting for the McKinney election is scheduled for April 22 through April 29. Election day is May 3. Voters will have several city council and school board races on their ballots in addition to the mayoral election.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For America corps member for KERA News.
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