PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners are considering raising the port’s current property tax rate by 1.87 percent.
If the two resolutions are approved during a Nov. 14 meeting, the owner of property assessed at $200,000 would see about a 74-cent increase in property taxes, said John Nutter, the port’s director of finance.
The current tax rate is roughly 20 cents per $1,000 dollars of assessed value. The tax hike would provide about $27,000 more for the port.
Under state law, the port is allowed to raise the rate 1 percent annually. The other 0.87 percent comes from one-third of the port’s banked capacity.
Commissioner Connie Beauvais said during a special meeting Tuesday she would not vote for the tax increase because she does not feel it would be correct in today’s economic air.
“Our communities can’t even pass school bonds or levies,” she said. “Even though it’s a minuscule amount of money, it does not look good.”
Beauvais would like to see the port pick up the extra money by building its lines of business.
Supporting move
Commissioners Colleen McAleer and Steven Burke both said they support the tax increase, saying a 74-cent increase in property taxes isn’t much.
“We need to change our economy; that’s the entire purpose of this port,” McAleer said. “I believe we have a plan and the people in place that can make that happen, and I’m supportive in investing today where in years past I was reluctant.”
Burke said the port isn’t “talking an extreme amount of money” and that he’d like to hear from the public.
“We can’t sustain the path that we’re on without adjusting some of these things,” Burke said. “We either start borrowing money or raising taxes.”
The tax increase would be the largest Port of Port Angeles tax increase in at least eight years. Since 2009, the port has raised taxes four times, each at 1 percent.
The property taxes are used for payment of debt service, funding new construction and for the Community Partner Program.
The 2017 budget includes debt service of $691,496, capital project of $9.4 million and $65,000 for the Community Partner Program.
Calling the increase a minuscule amount of money, Beauvais said she’d rather opt out of the increase because schools need to be upgraded.
McAleer said she agreed about the schools but didn’t see how such a small increase would affect the public’s decision on whether to pass school levies or bonds.
“I would put schools above any investment at the port,” she said. “I don’t know if this really small amount … is enough of a philosophical signal to the public.”
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
