Port of Tacoma commissioners Thursday approved a 2012 budget that gives Pierce County homeowners a small tax break but not before some commissioners questioned where the money will come from to complete port-related projects such as the extension of the state Route 167 freeway.
The budget approved Thursday afternoon freezes the existing tax rate at 18.365 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property valuation. Because the average assessed value of Pierce County homes has fallen since the recession hit, average taxpayers will pay $44.14 in port taxes next year.
That compares with $47.47 this year and $53.69 in 2010. The taxes keep falling because the average value of homes in Pierce County continues to decline and the tax rate remains fixed. That average value was $258,467 in 2011 and a projected $240,340 in 2012.
That translates to an income decrease for the port of $1.012 million next year.
Commissioner Don Meyer voted for the budget, but said he wants the commission to talk further about how to raise the capital to keep the port competitive.
Those taxes, which will total about $13.7 million in port income next year, are earmarked for bond repayments. Any excess funds beyond those needed to repay those loans has been dedicated to building roads and environmental improvements at the port. That excess for capital expenditures will disappear by 2014 because of rising bond payments and decreasing home values.
Meyer suggested that instead of freezing the tax rate, the commission in the future should at least consider setting the rate to ensure a steady income.
“I think its time to consider setting the tax rate not on a millage basis but on the basis of our business plan,” said Meyer.
The port badly needs to improve truck access to its terminals from the regional highway network, specifically by completing the state Route 167 freeway from Puyallup to the port.
But that project is so far down the state’s list for new projects it may not be done in the forseeable future, he said.
Commissioner Dick Marzano said big projects such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Washington 520 bridge in Seattle and a new Columbia River bridge in Vancouver are eating up the state’s limited funds. Without the port offering to pay a share of the 167 project, the road won’t get much attention from that state, he said.
Commissioner Don Johnson said he understood other commissioners’ viewpoints, but he wants the port to devote any extra dollars to other projects if they are more badly needed and if the 167 project faces big odds against completion.
Commission President Connie Bacon said that in the still- depressed economic climate she hasn’t sensed much public appetite for higher taxes.
“I don’t think any of us has the stomach for any kind of millage increase now,” she said.
John Gillie: 253-597-8663 john.gillie@thenewstribune.com
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