TIFTON — Plans for the Georgia State Patrol aviation hangar at Henry Tift Myers have been halted for the time being due to budget concerns.

Tift County commissioners moved to pull back on the current bids received for the project during their Feb. 12 meeting after they determined that the construction costs were well over what they had anticipated.

County manager Jim Carter explained at their meeting the previous week that the expenses had far surpassed what they anticipated it would cost or could afford with the $1M funding they had received for the project, even exceeding the contingency plans county staff had prepared in the event it was over budget.

He anticipated that the county wouldn’t have sufficient funding until July 2025 at the earliest, but explained at both meetings that all involved parties–the county, the Tift Airport and Development Authorities, and the state–were still interested in moving forward with the construction at that time.

Carter reported that the involved parties would pay a percentage of the design cost to “shelve” the project, keeping it ready for when they would be able to move forward with the plans again.