Port of Moses Lake passes budget, authorizes tax levy

MOSES LAKE — Commissioners overseeing the Port of Moses Lake unanimously approved an operating budget of $6.2 million for 2018, with anticipated revenue for the same period of $8.3 million.

Port commissioners passed the budget at a regular meeting on Monday morning. The commissioners also approved the district’s property tax levy of 45 cents per $1,000 in assessed value — the legal limit for port levies.

“The budget is basically unchanged,” said Kim DeTrolio, the director of finance and administration for the Port of Moses Lake.

The Port of Moses Lake — formally Grant County Port District No. 10 — receives about $1.7 million in taxpayer funding every year through its levy.

The budget anticipates that the $1.6 million remaining unspent from the operating budget will be used to cover the port’s ongoing capital expenses, especially the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project, which will connect the port to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe hub at Wheeler, east of Moses Lake.

The port was awarded about $30 million in state and federal grants to cover the cost of land acquisition, construction, and refurbishing existing tracks.

Port Executive Director Jeffrey Bishop said that those grants will reimburse port costs, so the port has secured a line of credit to pay for the railroad project.

According to commissioners, the Port of Moses Lake keeps a $2 million operational reserve and a $1 million capital reserve.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.