Port of Seattle Commissioners yesterday approved the Port’s 2015 budget, which projects significant growth at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, stable revenue in the seaport division, and continuing recovery in the real estate business.
“The port is a powerful economic engine that helps create more than 200,000 jobs across the region ,” said Commission Co-President Courtney Gregoire . “This budget reflects our priorities of making critical investments to sustain and grow these jobs in the long-term while ensuring King County taxpayers get the best value for their money.”
Anticipating continued business growth in most of the port’s divisions and strong property values, the approved budget keeps the tax levy stable at $73 million while reducing the tax rate from $0.2151 to $0.1896 per $1,000 of assessed value. Tax levy funds are used mainly for General Obligation (G.O.) bonds debt service, local transportation, and Seaport and Real Estate environmental clean-up efforts.
The Port’s 2015 operating revenues are budgeted at $551.8 million, a $14.4 million or 2.7% increase from the 2014 budget. Operating expenses are budgeted at $332.9 million, a $9.5 million or 2.9% increase compared to 2014 budget. Net Operating Income before Depreciation is budgeted to be $218.9 million, a $4.8 million or 2.3% increase.
The Port’s capital budget is $373.8 million for 2015 and $2.2 billion for the next five years.
Major capital projects for 2015 include (for the seaport):
– Terminal 5 modernization, making it ‘big ship ready’ to handle 13 – 14,000 TEU container ships;
– Terminal 46 development to increase ‘big ship’ handling capacity;
– Dedicated funding to support Seaport Alliance formation.
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Press Release