Port of Grapeview considers levy to buoy finances

Kirk Boxleitner | Oct 13, 20220

While commissioners for the Port of Grapeview repeatedly noted they’ve made no final decisions regarding next year’s budgets for the port, the three commissioners acknowledged several areas of overall agreement at their Oct. 6 budget workshop.

“As we’ve gone over the operations budget, we’ve seen how difficult it’s going to be for this port just to maintain the facilities that it has, which are very minimal,” Jean Farmer said, before she and fellow port commissioners turned to the preliminary capital construction budget to expand the port’s facilities, specifically its parking lot.

Port Commissioner Mike Blaisdell opened by declaring his “love (for) the idea of the project,” before warning it would likely require asking voters to OK an Industrial Development District, “and if you do that, it will be very difficult to try and pass a levy on top of that.”

Blaisdell said the port’s operating revenue is more important “to figure out how to maintain what we have” because while the prospective parking lot “is fabulous,” he said it would require its own maintenance.

Port Commissioner Art Whitson echoed Blaisdell’s goals and concerns, as well as Farmer’s assessment that “it’s hard to maintain (the port’s facilities) now,” and expanded facilities “will require the services of a lot more vendors” to maintain it.

“I like the idea of the project,” said Whitson, who admitted to being heartened and daunted by the project’s focus on the sort of environmental engineering that’s well-suited to his background.

“I’m afraid I’m going to get overwhelmed,” Whitson said. “I think we ought to defer it, and do it at the next interval, once we have financial backing from the community.”

Farmer was a commissioner when the port started the IDD. She said she was likely guilty of understatement when she said, “A lot of people here were not happy about it.” She added that all three port commissioners “are extremely grateful and thankful for the volunteer assistance that has occurred at this port,” including from people who have been “instrumental in writing and getting us grants.”

Nonetheless, Farmer agreed with Whitson, saying, “I think we have to wait.”

It was pointed out, as a matter of procedure, that if the port commissioners want to run a levy next year, as Farmer has called for, then it must be reflected on next year’s budget.

Farmer reiterated she’s requested for the port’s Strategic Planning Advisory Committee to put together a marketing plan for a levy increase and to answer public questions about how much it would cost the average homeowner. She emphasized the attendant need for all three port commissioners to promote such a levy personally, through doorbelling, sign-waving and other community interactions.

“There’s one way you could make it win-win for the citizens,” Blaisdell suggested. “The IDD money can only be used for capital, but if you were to propose a levy increase, you could reduce the IDD” by the same amount as the levy.

Blaisdell said operating money could be used “for whatever we want, including paying down port loans, and he claimed “the taxpayers, in the long run, are going to come ahead, because the levied amounts can only go up so much each year. I think you could really sell it to our citizens.”

The port commissioners’ next regular meeting is at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18. To attend or view over Zoom, you can find instructions at http://www.portofgrapeview.com.