The Port of Chehalis will levy an additional 1% in property taxes next year and will add revenue associated with an administrative refund resulting from a tax settlement for a business within the port district.
The Port of Chehalis Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve its planned property tax levy revenue for the 2027 budget during a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 12, at the port office located at the intersection of Maurin Road and Rush Road.
The board approved a balanced proposed 2027 budget one meeting earlier on Monday, Oct. 19.
The Port of Chehalis decided to opt for the 1% annual property tax revenue increase, which will allow the port to take in an additional $8,785.20, according to documents from the port.
Additionally, opting to take an offered administrative refund to recoup taxes paid back to a landowner after a legal settlement concerning overpaid taxes will allow the port district to take in an additional $41,180.57 in property tax revenue.
The port will collect a total of $816,853.39 in property taxes in 2027.
That total, however, goes down to $623,513.71 when accounting for the port’s yearly debt payments of $193,339.68, which are required to be paid out of the district property tax revenue.
The increase in revenue does not necessarily mean an increase in property tax rates. In Washington state, governments’ property tax revenue amounts are constant and they are then permitted to increase that overall revenue by 1% each year. Rates on properties within the district are then determined in order to yield that revenue.
When property values increase, property tax rates can even go down while a government receives more revenue. When property taxes decline, rates often rise.
During the meeting, Port of Chehalis Chief Executive Officer Lindsey Senter asked the board to approve the property tax levy, explaining that the port simply does not generate enough operational revenue to forgo the revenue. She added that the port's operational cost, such as salaries, often increase faster than the port's operational revenue.
“For the time being, we're just not at the level of growth as a mid or big port where it would be easy to write off on this at this time,” Senter said. “This is a number that we do request as staff to say this helps us a lot be able to stay on par with the rising costs of operations.”
In doing so, Senter said she is aware of the port commission’s goal of increasing the port's operational revenue in order to help pay for a larger portion of port wages and other recurring costs.
In response to a question from Port Commissioner Mark Anders, Senter also informed the commission that the port maintains approximately 6% of banked capacity that could be used in the future to increase the port's property tax revenue.
The approved 2027 budget relies heavily on property tax revenue to cover the port's yearly operational costs, with the biggest being salaries and benefits at just over $600,000 and the next largest yearly expense being described as administrative expenses at approximately $327,000. The port’s total yearly operational expenses total just over $1 million.
Property tax revenue after debt payments will pay for roughly two-thirds of the port's yearly operating revenue with operational revenues expected to total $377,398.68 covering the other third.
The port’s standard operational revenue comes primarily from leases with port tenants, with a much smaller sum coming from other miscellaneous sources.
On the capital budget side of things, the port isn’t expecting revenue from any large real estate sales, but it is expecting nearly $3.9 million in grant funding toward a long list of projects, including $1.286 million in continued funding for the fish passage project on Berwick Creek.
