Port of Grapeview agrees to sales tax funding

Kirk Boxleitner | Jan 05, 20230

The Port of Grapeview completed a hectic agenda of new business Dec. 20 as port commissioners agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Mason County for rural county 0.09 sales tax funding in 2023.

Port Commissioner Jean Farmer said the money has been available for applications “for a while,” but the Belfair sewer had precluded that money from being available to the port.

Under the memo, the port will receive a $20,000 grant it can use to pay for maintenance of its facilities. The port must submit a budget for that maintenance list to the county.

Port Manager Amanda Montgomery said the port must pay its bills before it can be reimbursed by the county.

“We have to front the money,” Montgomery said. “I submit the paperwork. We pay the bill. They review (the bill), then they reimburse us for it. Any (funding) that’s unused by the last day of the year is lost.”

“We’ll make sure to use it all,” Farmer said, laughing. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

Farmer went on to note that, for reasons she did not know, the Port of Grapeview is not a member of the Economic Development Council of Mason County, “but we should be.”

Farmer said she’s asked the Mason County EDC’s executive director to give the port a rotating position on the EDC’s board, starting in 2024, because the EDC had already voted on its board members for 2023.

Farmer proposed the port start a basic membership in the EDC for $250 starting in January. Commissioners Art Whitson and Mike Blaisdell agreed.

Volunteer Bob Pastore reported the recommendations of the port’s Strategic Planning Advisory Committee for launch and parking fees in 2023.

Pastore said the committee reviewed 75 area ports and their fees. The committee recommended to the commissioners that they retain all their existing fees, except for reducing kayak fees from $10 to $5 apiece.

Commissioners agreed they were, in Farmer’s words, “good with that.” Montgomery raised concerns.

“When we did the budget, you budgeted the kiosk income based on a rate increase,” Montgomery said. “You asked that I increase the kiosk revenue to reflect an increase in the annual pass and/or parking. If you’re opting not to do that, obviously, it’s fine, but it will not reflect the increased funds that you requested I add to the budget.”

Pastore said projected and actual budgets often differ. Montgomery added, “As the person who manages the money and the kiosk, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not remind the board that they opted to discuss raising the fees, and all I’m doing is reminding them.”

Blaisdell responded by recalling that Montgomery had earlier reported the year-to-date kiosk gross revenue as $12,592.23, whereas for the 2023 budget, Montgomery had forecast an anticipated kiosk revenue of $12,000.

“So we actually took in more this year than we budgeted,” Blaisdell said. “So I would expect that we should at least get what we did (this past) year, which was $12,500, which would still be over what you budgeted.”

Farmer concurred with Blaisdell, adding, “If we can explain to the public why we don’t meet, or why we exceed, our budget, (because the public) is who we answer to, then I think we’re good.”

Farmer further noted, “If we really need to, we can do a budget adjustment to a line-item.”

Blaisdell noted the many other ports the SPAC researched, and concluded that “a lot of work went into that, so if those are the results that came back, I’m inclined to accept their recommendation.”

Whitson made the commissioners’ approval of the SPAC’s recommendations unanimous.