Iosco County Board Approves 2,000-Gallon Fuel Purchase for Airport Resale
Why It MattersCounty-owned airports resell fuel under local governing-board oversight, with supplier credit balances reducing cash outlay, so small-airport fuel purchasing runs through public meetings and is shaped by finance and supplier arrangements.
What happened
The Iosco County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the purchase of 2,000 gallons of fuel for resale at the county airport in Tawas City. Airport Manager Jay Samuels made the request. The vote came at the Board's regular meeting on Oct. 21; District 1 Commissioner Alexander Hardy was absent.
The fuel is expected to cost approximately $6.15 per gallon. The airport holds a credit balance of approximately $9,567.62 with its fuel supplier, AvFuel, which brings the estimated net cost to the county to $2,732.38. Iosco County Controller/Finance Director Jamie Carruthers-Soboleski also addressed the purchase at the meeting.
The Board took several other actions at the same meeting. It unanimously approved revising the county's FY 2026 contract with River Road Enterprises, LLC to correct a rounding error tied to the 2025 renewal, and approved a building maintenance services agreement with the company for Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2027. It also unanimously approved a Letter of Understanding with the United Steelworkers, Local 15157-14, under which the county will add a full-time level 3 union position in the Building Department, and approved, 4-0, a Letter of Agreement with the same union's Iosco County Courthouse Employee unit.
At the Committee of the Whole meeting that followed, EMS Chief Raymond Bruning II's request to purchase two new ambulances was unanimously approved for consideration at the Board's next regular meeting on Nov. 4.
Industry impact & what to watch
A county-owned airport that sells fuel to transient and based aircraft carries inventory like any retailer, but the decision to restock goes through an elected board rather than a private management team. The Iosco vote shows how that works in practice: a manager's request, a finance director's review of the numbers, and a recorded vote at a regular meeting.
The supplier credit is the notable mechanism here. With a credit balance of roughly $9,567.62 against AvFuel against a fuel cost of about $12,300 for the load, the county's actual cash outlay falls to $2,732.38. For small public airports, fuel sales are often one of the few revenue lines the owner controls directly, and supplier credit balances change how much each purchase costs on the day.
The next dated milestone in the material is the Board's Nov. 4 regular meeting, where the ambulance purchase request is slated for consideration. The fuel purchase itself is already approved.
