Port of Dewatto adopts $119,500 budget for 2022

Commissioners also set, pass 2022 tax levy

Kirk Boxleitner | Jan 13, 20220

The Port of Dewatto adopted a 2022 budget of $119,500 after commissioners conducted a public hearing on its revenue sources prior to the winter holidays.

Port of Dewatto Commission Chair Ray Mow oversaw the November meeting, which didn’t draw any members of the public, while port volunteer Kris Tompkins reviewed the specifics of the port’s proposed budget and its revenue sources.

According to Tompkins, the port received $16,427 more in state Department of Natural Resources timber trust funds, for a total of $32,034 in 2021.

Tompkins said the port’s 2022 revenue sources are 43% from taxes and 13% from intergovernmental revenue, with the latter including the timber excise and trust. The remaining 44% is classified as “miscellaneous,” including interest and rental fees.She then explained how the property tax and levy amounts are calculated, by providing a worksheet to show the difference between what the port could technically collect under statute versus what the port could collect by law under a lid lift.

The statutory levy collection would be $112,192, while the levy collection would be $45,109, or 40% of that amount.

Tompkins said changes in the port’s revenue budget between the port commissioners’ October and November meetings was a decrease of $400 in the port’s property tax collections and an increase of $400 in its timber trust.

Added to the expenditure side of the port’s budget was $2,000 to personnel benefits and another $2,000 to supplies for the refrigerator, plus $1,500 to professional services for its online reservation and payment system, and another $1,500 to utilities, with $4,000 to repairs and maintenance for the campground electrical systems, and $500 to the business and occupation tax on campground fees.

That cash carryover of $11,500 was added to the $2,000 already shown to be used, for a total of $13,500, out of the $223,700 estimated beginning fund balance, leaving the revenues and expenditures to balance out with a total of $119,500.

Following the commissioners’ passage of the budget, Commissioner David Haugen moved to set the tax levy for 2022, which was seconded by Mow and passed, with Port Manager Jeana Crosby due to check with Mason County on whether the Port of Dewatto’s population is more or less than 10,000 residents.

After Haugen and Mow approved the port’s November vouchers in the amount of $4,317.14, they said they were pleased to see that amount was lower than the vouchers for previous months, due not only to the campground’s winter closure, but also to the campground coordinator’s salary being reduced through winter.

The campground also has fewer porta-potties and less electrical use in its off-season months, during which its Wi-Fi is also shut off.

The Port of Dewatto’s budget for 2022 can be found at https://portofdewatto.com/wp-content/uploads/public-documents/2022/2022-Budget.pdf.