ARCO — Butte County has lost out on $3 million in federal funds for its airport because the government classifies it as a metropolitan area.
The omnibus spending bill passed in March set aside $1 billion for small and rural airports. Butte County had hoped to get $3 million of this for the Arco-Butte County Airport, said county Economic Development Director Monica Hampton. There was no local match on these grants for qualifying rural airports, meaning the federal government would cover 100 percent of the cost of infrastructure upgrades.
