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 Ken
Jantz, president, Paul Schneidmiller,
vice president, and Fred Bennett, 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 commissioner 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 retired 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 up to
$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 14 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.
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