This case regards the superior court’s validation of a $3.6 million bond, known as the Paulding County Airport Authority Revenue Bond. The bond will be issued by the Paulding County Airport Authority, and the proceeds will be used to widen and extend the taxiway at the Paulding County Airport to accommodate commercial passenger jets. Pursuant to the bond resolution, the Airport Authority, which manages the Airport, and Paulding County will enter into an intergovernmental agreement “IGA”. Under the terms of this ten-year IGA, Paulding County and the Airport Authority will cooperate to construct the expanded taxiway, which is located on property owned by both the Airport Authority and Paulding County. The IGA obligates the Airport Authority to operate, maintain, and provide the facilities necessary to use the improved taxiway. In exchange, Paulding County is required to pay the principal and interest payments on the bond. Paulding County is also obligated to use its taxing power to raise money, should there be any shortfall in and for payments.
In addition, on October 22, 2013, the Airport Authority and Silver Comet, a commercial aviation company leasing a large portion of the airport terminal for twenty years, entered into a separate agreement regarding the expansion of the airport taxiway. The Silver Comet agreement states that Silver Comet “wishes to provide the Airport Authority with an incentive to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of expanding the taxiways at the Airport.” That incentive is Silver Comet’s agreement to pay the Authority “the principal amount of the Bonded Indebtedness as well as any interest associated with repayment of the Bonded Indebtedness” until it is paid in full. This agreement does not, however, eliminate the County’s obligation to pay principal and interest on the issued bonds.
