Bryan County can expect $35 million in projected tax revenues over a 20-year period for a new airport that needs at least $66 million in federal and state funds to build, according to an economic study paid for by airport supporters.
An airport housing 180 planes could result in annual taxes of approximately $1.2 million to Bryan County schools, $490,000 to the county and $340,000 to Richmond Hill, if the airport is built completely to its current plan, according to the study conducted by the Economic Impact Group, a Hall County-based consulting firm.
The five-page report does not describe the financing or costs of construction which an earlier consulting report said would total $183 million. The Richmond Hill-Bryan County Airport Authority, created this year by the state legislature, is expected to issue bonds to finance some of the remaining cost. Those bonds would also pay back the county’s development authority for the $11,000 study.
The authority lobbying for the airport said it would be a windfall for the county, but elected officials have not yet voted on the plans. The latest study, which cost approximately $11,000, is aimed at bolstering the supporters’ case.
Separately, a feasibility study conducted by a South Carolina-based consultant in 2023 under a $146,000 contract with the city of Richmond Hill concluded that shortages of hangar space and landing access at the region’s other airports and Coastal Georgia’s booming economy could justify a new, 328-acre airport in Bryan County with a single, 5,500-foot runway and 14 hangars.
The Current GA has previously reported, however, that some basic claims detailed in that report about the airport’s costs and benefits to city and county residents appear inflated, if not inaccurate.
The projected revenue gains in this most recent study are based on business plans presented by the airport authority. The assumption is that local governments would tax infrastructure built by private entities that is necessary to support private aircraft as well as fuel and services needed for the airfield.
The entire project, meanwhile, is predicated on the investment of public funds for the initial infrastructure. The federal government would pay about $62.5 million toward the airport; the state would pay another $3.5 million. And every year, the state of Georgia also has a budget in the millions for infrastructure projects at local airports, with airports lobbying for more. A new airport would also be able to apply for those public funds.
Financing for much of the other $62 million in additional infrastructure such as hangars is expected to come through bonds issued by the airport authority or private investment, authority members have said. Investors who purchase the bonds would be repaid with the proceeds from the airport’s operations.
The law passed in 2025 creating the airport authority says county and city taxpayers cannot be held responsible for the authority’s debts. This does not mean, however, that the planned airport will necessarily pay for itself, or generate the estimated sales and property tax revenue baked into the most recent economic study.
The economist paid to conduct the study estimated that construction of the airport would take three years, but did not provide information about the basis for that timeline. The study concluded that the airport would create 12 new jobs, once it was operational, but it would not attract much new retail business or homeowners to the county.
The planned Bryan County airport would be similar in size to the ones in Gainesville and Peachtree City, according to the airport authority chairman Trip Addison.
Currently, there are 31 aircraft registered in Bryan County according to the Federal Aviation Administration, 84 in Bulloch and 45 in Effingham. Most belong to individuals. Chatham County has 443 registered planes — more than half owned by Gulfstream companies.
Addison said he is hoping for favorable news in an upcoming assessment by the Georgia Department of Transportation
“Assuming that that shows what we believe it will, a need for an airport, we want to be well-positioned to be that location for the airport,” Addison said.