Port of Seattle freezes staff salaries for 2004

Port of Seattle freezes staff salaries for 2004    The port of Seattle has adopted a budget for 2004 that freezes the salaries of its staff, reduces staff levels, and includes $740 million of capital expenditures.
   The port said the budget includes staff reductions at the airport and “very tight fiscal restraints.”
   There will be no pay increases in 2004, and port employees will pay more of the health care and benefit costs.
   “We’ve made some difficult decisions,” said Patricia Davis, president of the commission of the port of Seattle. “But we’re continuing to make the investments that will produce jobs and make our port competitive now and in the future.”
   The 2004 budget includes $363 million in operating revenues.
   The port also is taking steps to improve security at the seaport, including investing in federal security grant monies.
   The port of Seattle will continue work on upgrades to the container handling facility at Terminal 46, a $71-million project. Capital improvements at Fishermen’s Terminal and Terminal 115, both of which serve the critical economic link between Alaska and the Puget Sound region, will also move ahead in 2004.
   The 2004 budget includes a property tax levy that will raise $59.66 million. The tax levy rate will be 25.5 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation – about half a penny less than in 2003.
   The port said its tax proceeds are used primarily for seaport-related capital projects, environmental restoration, and to pay off general obligation bonds.