PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles commissioners decided Monday in a divided vote to raise the amount of property tax the port levies by 1 percent.
The increase will mean an additional amount of about $1.52 per year for the owner of a $200,000 home.
Port Commission President George Schoenfeldt and Commissioner John Calhoun voted in favor of raising the levy, while Commissioner Jim McEntire was opposed.
McEntire made the original motion to enact the alternative with the levy increase but later voted against it.
“I recognize the severe downturn in the economy and everyone is hurting, including taxpayers,” Calhoun said. “But if we were to forgo that 1 percent, it is difficult to catch up the banked amount.
“The levy money is what we use for debt service and capital projects. It is a powerful economic tool.”
McEntire said no matter how small the amount, he wouldn’t vote for an increase.
“I think we ought not to add to the burdens of our property tax base. Even if it is small, they all add up,” said McEntire, who conceded Saturday to Steve Tharinger in a bid for the 24th District Position 2 House seat.
“I think that, even if we are adding a penny or two, it is not the right thing to do.”
Schoenfeldt said because the increase was small he supported it.
“We talk about the library tax and the fire district — those are hundreds of dollars that the tax payers voted on themselves,” Schoenfeldt said.
Create jobs
“This would just be asking for 32 cents more, and our money is actually going to be used to create jobs in the county.”
Because property values decreased, the rate would have increased even if the levy hadn’t.
The commission voted, with McEntire’s dissent, to collect a total of $1,341,998 — $23,748 more than last year.
That amounts to the 1 percent increase — or $13,183 — plus the revenue collected from new construction that didn’t exist during the previous taxing cycle — or $10,565.
The estimated levy rate will be $0.1676 per $1,000 assessed valuation. That compares to the current rate of $0.16 per $1,000 assessed valuation.
In 2011, the owner of a $200,000 home will pay about $33.52 in taxes versus $32 this year to the port.
If the commission levied the same amount as last year — $1,318,250 — the rate would have been $0.1660 per $1,000 assessed valuation.
In that case the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $33.20 per year — 32 cents per year less than the ultimate resolution.
Banked increases
The commissioners also had the option of using up two years of “banked” increases.
When they choose not to use the 1 percent increase allowed by law, the amount they could have raised the levy by can be saved — or “banked” — and that amount can be added to any other increases for a period of five years. After five years, the banked amount is lost.
The amount the port has banked is $24,792 because they have not raised the levy for the past two years — so the commissioners could have added that to the levy as well.
At the Oct. 25 meeting commissioners said they were not in favor of that option.
Because they accepted the 1 percent increase, the $24,792 will remain banked for the two years.
Hangar lease
The commissioners also discussed lease issues with Mel Rudden of Port Angeles who rents hangars at the William R. Fairchild International Airport.
He suggested that improvements at the airport be purchased by the port at the end of the lease or that the lease be extended over a longer period of time.
Executive Director Jeff Robb said both issues are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. If the port agreed to either, then it would have to forfeit FAA grants and repay about $13 million.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
