The Port of Seattle is probably the only government in Washington State that held taxes at the same level or lowered them for 2009.  The Port of Seattle will collect the same amount of property tax revenue in 2009 that it did in 2008, and since the county’s inventory of property has increased because of new development, many people’s taxes should go down.

The port’s operations are entirely supported by port revenues. Tax dollars are used to support bonding for long term capital investments, and for projects that will not return a profit, such as removing PCB’s from Puget Sound or helping the state build a new overpass.

I have requested the port develop a five year plan for reducing the maritime division’s reliance on the tax levy for support of long term capital investments, and instead rely more heavily on revenue bonds. This should provide more funds for transportation and environmental projects.

For more information on the budget and the levy, please click here

The Port of Seattle’s maritime business is responsible for over 35,000 family wage jobs in the King County area. The greatest threat to these jobs, and our port, is government-supported port projects in Canada, Mexico and Panama Canal being able to deliver products to and from Asia and the American Mid-West faster than Puget Sound ports. That is why we must fix our traffic mess and increase the efficient use of rail.