Rail, airfield improvements planned at Grant Co. International Airport

MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake is projected to spend about $8.8 million for its operations and wastewater treatment facility in 2025 and generate revenues of about $9.38 million. Port commissioners approved the 2025 budget Monday.

Kim DeTrolio, director of finance and administration, said the port is projected to carry over about $17.18 million into 2025. 

“We have not done tons of capital projects over the last two years, so we have had an increase for those two years of about four and a half million dollars,” she said.  

Additional capital projects are planned for 2025, DeTrolio said, which is projected to reduce the carryover to about $10.75 million at the end of 2025. 

Port officials do not anticipate borrowing any money for its anticipated projects, paying for them with existing reserves, grants, revenue bonds and money raised through taxes.  

The port’s outstanding debt is about $12.64 million. About $10 million of that is a loan for the rail project, to be paid back with money raised through the “tax increment area” the port established earlier this year. 

A tax increment area is based on the idea that development and infrastructure improvements raise property values. Baseline property values are established when a tax increment district is formed, and any increase in property tax revenues is used to finance the development project, according to the International City/County Management Association.  

Port officials have been working for a decade on rebuilding and reestablishing rail service to port property, and Facilities Director Milton Miller said that project should be ready to be advertised for initial bids next year. The new railroad will replace the existing tracks through Moses Lake; the new tracks will use the corridor along Wheeler Road.  

Miller said port officials are working on obtaining right-of-way through the corridor.  

The biggest capital expense in 2025 is projected to be land acquisition, with projected expenditures of $14 million.  

“We are looking to do some strategic (land) purchases to protect our airport activity and develop unused property for our industrial park,” DeTrolio said. 

Some projects started in 2024 won’t be completed until 2025, among them work on the west airport taxiway. Construction is projected to start in January and take about three months. Project costs are estimated at $3.53 million.  

A new equipment storage building is under construction inside the airport fence, with a scheduled completion date of April 2025. Project costs are estimated at $1.47 million.  

Port officials are working to develop a new facility for aircraft firefighter training, with design scheduled for 2025. Miller said the money allocated for 2025, $318,000, is only for design. DeTrolio said construction will be broken into phases due to the cost. 

“Phase one, we have already been told, is going to be in the $8 million range,” she said. 

Port officials anticipate construction will be funded mostly through the Federal Aviation Administration, and Commissioner Kent Jones said that’s the only way it will happen. 

“We don’t have that kind of money,” Jones said. “The FAA will have to help us on that.” 

Access to utilities will be added near the port’s southwest hangar; construction is scheduled for next year. Total cost is estimated at $750,000 and the port has received a Structural Improvement Grant from Grant County for $500,000 for the project. 

Reconstruction of an airport taxiway, Taxiway G, is one of the long-term projects planned; engineering and design work is planned in 2025 at a cost of $92,472. The port has received an FAA grant for about $87,800 of that cost. 

Port of Moses Lake 2025 budget
Projected operating revenues:
$9. 38 million
Projected operating expenses:
$8.83 million