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.
Aquire, construct, install, improve and
oper- ate sewer and water utilities to serve its own properties
and that of other property owners.
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 Paul
Schneidmiller, president, Fred Bennett,
vice president, and Mike Fredrickson, 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.
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.
Fredrickson, managing
member of Associated Appraisers of Walla Walla LLC, represents
District 2, which includes the eastern third of the City of
Walla Walla, Dixie,Waitsburg and Prescott.
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.
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.
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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.
(That amount will increase to $750 per month for commissioners
elected after January 1, 2008.)
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 9.3 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.
Regular Port of Walla Walla Commission
meetings are at 1:00 p.m. on the second
Thursday and 6:00 p.m. on the fourth
Thursday of each month at the Port office.
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