MOULTRIE, Ga. — If you build it — or in this case resurface it — will they come?

And if part of a local transportation sales tax includes the Spence Field runway project, how will the voters view that?

City and county officials veered onto the runway issue at a recent meeting during which they discussed the distribution of the proposed Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.  This local-only tax would raise an estimated $25.5 million over five years for transportation improvements. It would go into effect on April 1, 2018, if approved in November by voters.

The group agreed to find another way to make improvements at the Spence Field facility, an old airfield that dates back to World War II when it was used to train foreign pilots who would return to Europe to fight the Nazis. That approach, unrelated to the transportation tax, would be in the event a company that needs such a facility commits to setting up shop in the county.

“You almost would have to say, what are you people in Moultrie and Colquitt County thinking,” Moultrie City Manager Pete Dillard told the group. “You’ve got the second-longest airport in Georgia, and you’re growing vegetables on it. We need to think about, is this the time we need to step up and take our chances?

“Are we missing an opportunity if we don’t put Spence Field on a list in Atlanta that would bring us attention we’ve never had? I guess the issue is: What’s more important, economic development or produce?”

Moultrie Mayor Bill McIntosh suggested putting only part of the amount needed to fix up the aging runway in the transportation sales tax question on which county residents will vote on Nov. 7.

Instead of spending money before having a company willing to locate here, County Commissioner Johnny Hardin countered that instead the county and  municipalities should draft an agreement under which they would fund the project should it be needed.

“If a project agrees to come to Colquitt County, we’ll come up with the money,” Hardin said.

The runway improvement at Spence Field was one of the Colquitt County projects criticized most by residents leading up to the vote on a  regional transportation tax vote in 2012.

That tax measure was rejected by voters in Colquitt and 13 other counties that were grouped together by the state.

Had that tax passed, it would have provided an estimated $530 million over 10 years, including $79.5 million for projects in Colquitt County. The largest of those was to have been the four-laning of Highway 133. In addition, the county would have received $1.1 million per year for local transportation projects, Moultrie would have gotten $234,706 annually, and another $72,000 would have been split between Berlin, Doerun, Ellenton, Funston and Norman Park.

Another criticism of the 2012 tax referendum is that some of the money raised would go to other counties.

That will not be the case this time, as all of the money raised — if voters approve the extra penny tax this year — will go to projects inside Colquitt County. Because shoppers from other counties make purchases here, they also would contribute to improving the roads and streets.

One further criticism given at the recent meeting against putting some money for Spence Field on the list is that some money already would go to the Moultrie Municipal Airport.

Two airports may have been an airport too far, some suggested.

County officials have said that the sales tax would take care of the most severe road resurfacing needs while most likely allowing a cut in the tax millage rate for those who pay property taxes.

Of local authorities, Moultrie Airport Authority is to be funded at $750,000, followed by the Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation at $550,000, and $250,000 for the Colquitt County Hospital Authority.

The balance would be split up based on population, with the rough formula at: $15.92 million for the county, $5,877,885 for Moultrie, $306,816 for Berlin, $433,799 for Doerun, $157,490 for Ellenton, 251,648 for Funston, and $544,771 for Norman Park.