These
regulations authorize the Port of Walla Walla to do the following:
Develop
waterfronts, airports and other facilities for handling cargo
and passengers.
Provide
capital improvements needed for industrial and manufacturing
facilities within the Port District.
Improve
Port District lands so they can be sold or leased for industrial
and commercial purposes.
Undertake
and adopt comprehensive development plans for the Port District.
Execute
business recruitment strategies.
Levy
taxes and sell bonds to develop properties and manufacturing
facilities.
Port
Leadership
The Port
of Walla Walla has three elected commissioners who represent
you...the shareholders. The commissioners are Fred
Bennett, president, Ken Jantz, vice
president, and Paul Schneidmiller, secretary.
While all commissioners are elected on a county-wide basis,
each must live in a specific commissioner district within
Walla Walla County. The districts are the same as the Walla
Walla county commissioners districts.
Bennett,
a retired Walla Walla College professor of engineering, represents
District 3, including College Place, Touchet, Lowden, Burbank,
Eureka, Clyde and the western part of the county.
Jantz,
a Waitsburg wheat rancher, represents District 2, which includes
the eastern third of the City of Walla Walla, Dixie, Waitsburg
and Prescott.
Schneidmiller,
president of World Wide Travel Service, Inc., represents District
1, which encompasses more than half the City of Walla Walla
and the Stateline area.
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Each
commissioner serves a six-year term. Terms are staggered so
that one position is up for election every two years. Commissioners
decide each year who will hold the offices of president, vice
president and secretary.
Port
of Walla Walla Commissioners, and those at other Ports with
similar business volume, are entitled to $70 per day compensation
for each day or portion of a day spent attending meetings
or performing other services on behalf of the Port District.
The law
prohibits commissioners from receiving more than $6,720 per
year in such compensation. In addition, Port Commissioners
receive a salary of $500 per month.
Port
Finances
Ports
may levy, without a public vote, a property tax of no more
than 45-cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation for
general Port purposes. When an industrial development district
is formed under state law, commissioners may levy an additional
45-cents per $1,000 of assessed value for a period of no longer
than 12 years.
The Port
of Walla Walla currently levies only the first tax for general
port purposes. Including revenue from the Walla Walla Regional
Airport, the Port District receives only 25 percent of its
revenues from property taxes.
Washington
State law provides for Port Commissioners to designate administrative
powers and duties to the managing official of the Port District.
This is done with a Port Commission resolution establishing
guidelines and procedures for the managing official to follow.
In that manner, the Executive Director and his or her staff
can perform their duties in a timely and efficient manner.
Still, as policy makers, Port commissioners remain responsible
for district operations.
Port
of Walla Walla Commissioners meet on the second and fourth
Wednesday of each month at the Port office. |