Airport and industrial land
Brings in $3.78M, mostly from land leases in Tumwater
Covers its running costsYes, +$1.27M
Covers its share of overheadNo, −$30K
Covers wear and tearNo, −$1.01M
Draft numbers. This page uses the Port's 2027 preliminary budget, with figures as of Oct. 27, 2026. The Port Commission is scheduled to vote on the final budget Nov. 23, 2026.
Questions 1 to 6 cover the 2027 draft. Question 7 compares every budget since 2016, and Question 8 explains why the numbers are hard to follow.
Question 1
Does the Port pay its own way?
Day to day, just barely. For every dollar the Port's businesses earn, they spend a dollar running themselves. Nothing is left to replace docks, pavement and buildings as they wear out.
The businesses bring in
$16.4M
From customers and tenants at the airport, marina, marine terminal and downtown properties.
They cost to run
$16.4M
$11.9M in direct costs plus $4.5M in shared office overhead. Left over: about $37,000.
Wear and tear not covered
$3.5M
The Port's things lose about $3.6M in value this year. The businesses earn almost none of it back.
Property taxes and grants pay for the public work on top: environmental cleanup, loan payments, running the public agency and most new construction.
How the Port sees it: the Port uses a different test. It says a public port succeeds when its businesses cover their direct running costs, and that property taxes and grants are meant to pay for cleanup, loan payments and new construction. By that test all four businesses pass in 2027, with $4.57M left before overhead. The Port also says it budgeted cautiously for 2027 because it expects fewer cargo ships. This page counts overhead and wear and tear as well, because those costs still have to be paid.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 8, 9 and 17.
Question 2
What do I pay, and where does it go?
Everyone who owns property in Thurston County pays a Port tax. The draft rate for 2027 is 12.5 cents for every $1,000 your home is assessed at.
Your assessed value is on your Thurston County property tax statement.
You pay the Port about
$63
a year
Paying off old loans$26
Environmental cleanup$23
Running the public agency$14
How the split works: Port policy says the tax pays for three things, which add up to about $10.07M in 2027. The tax brings in $8.30M. This page divides your bill in the same proportions. That split is this page's estimate, not a Port figure. The remaining $1.76M comes from business earnings and savings. A separate $81,000 added to recover tax refunds would raise the rate slightly, to 12.6 cents.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 26, 27 and 40.
Question 3
How is each business doing?
The Port runs four businesses. Each one gets the same three tests, from easiest to hardest.
Swantown Marina and boatyard
Brings in $5.21M, mostly from boat moorage
Covers its running costsYes, +$1.42M
Covers its share of overheadYes, +$114K
Covers wear and tearNo, −$489K
Marine Terminal
Brings in $6.41M from cargo ships and terminal tenants
Covers its running costsYes, +$1.50M
Covers its share of overheadYes, +$92K
Covers wear and tearNo, −$1.69M
Downtown properties
Brings in $1.04M from leases around the Farmers Market and East Bay
Covers its running costsYes, +$381K
Covers its share of overheadNo, −$138K
Covers wear and tearNo, −$351K
A note on the middle test: the Port divides its office overhead by fixed shares (28% terminal, 26% airport, 26% marina, 10% downtown, 10% environmental). A different split would change which businesses pass.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 10 to 17.
Question 4
What about the cleanup?
The Port is responsible for cleaning up pollution in Budd Inlet and at the old Cascade Pole wood-treating site. Here is what the 2027 draft sets aside.
Budd Inlet, this year
$3.0M
For engineering design. The Port expects $2.0M of it back from grants. Last year's budget was $4.0M.
Cascade Pole, this year
$1.19M
Up 44% to meet new state monitoring rules for sediment and groundwater.
Total cost to finish Budd Inlet
$100M to $200M
There is no firm total yet. In 2024 the Port said early estimates were over $100M and could reach about $200M, plus $22M for testing and design. It had lined up $12M at that time.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, page 23. Total estimate: Port of Olympia, Where the Money Goes, June 2024.
Question 5
When do the old loans get paid off?
Soon. Three loans finish by 2028, and yearly payments drop by about $3.3M starting in 2029.
$4.16M
2027
$3.13M
2028
$0.83M
2029
$0.82M
2030
$0.83M
2031
The open question: what should that $3.3M a year go toward? Cleanup, replacing worn-out facilities, a lower tax, or new projects are all choices the Commission could make.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 25 and 41.
Question 6
Is the Port spending its savings?
Yes, on purpose. The Port plans to spend more than it takes in during 2027 instead of borrowing.
Savings at the start of 2027
$25.1M
Money coming in
+$19.8M
Money going out
−$28.7M
Savings at the end of 2027
$16.2M
Where the $28.7M goes
Building and buying things$16.2M
About half is expected to be paid by grants, most of them not yet awarded.
Environmental programs$5.7M
Loan payments$4.2M
Running the public agency$2.2M
Election and other costs$0.4M
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 20, 28 and 30.
In fairness
What is going well?
Several things in the 2027 draft point in a good direction.
Debt is going down
The Port plans no new borrowing. What it owes falls from $14.6M to $7.5M by 2031.
Every business covers its running costs
All four bring in more than they spend on direct operations.
Grants stretch local dollars
The Port expects grants to pay $8.3M of its $16.2M in 2027 construction. Most are not yet awarded.
The tax rate is low for a port
In 2025 it ranked 27th highest of 32 Washington counties with a port tax.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 17, 20, 25 and 26.
Question 7
Has it always been this way?
On paper, yes. Every budget the Commission has adopted since 2016 planned for the businesses to fall short once wear and tear is counted, by $1.3M to $3.8M a year. Actual results have sometimes been better.
Port property tax since 2016
Up 64%
From $5.07M to $8.30M, in dollars not adjusted for inflation. The tax rate has fallen 43% since 1998.
Business income since 2016
Up 53%
From $10.76M to $16.45M.
| Year | Businesses bring in | After wear and tear | Port property tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $10.76M | −$2.63M | $5.07M |
| 2017 | $11.80M | −$1.28M | $5.16M |
| 2018 | $11.65M | −$2.10M | $6.25M |
| 2019 | $11.78M | −$1.81M | $6.42M |
| 2020 | $13.18M | −$3.75M | $6.70M |
| 2021 | $13.34M | −$1.45M | $6.94M |
| 2022 | $14.35M | −$1.63M | $7.12M |
| 2023 | $15.89M | −$2.01M | $7.59M |
| 2024 | $15.63M | −$2.34M | $7.86M |
| 2025 | $17.68M | −$1.29M | $8.08M |
| 2026 | $17.19M | −$3.32M | $8.33M |
| 2027 draft | $16.45M | −$3.54M | $8.30M |
How to read this: each row is that year's plan as the Commission adopted it, not what actually happened. Results were sometimes better: the Port's later budget books report that the businesses finished ahead after wear and tear in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and short in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. The 2022 to 2025 results were unaudited when published. The Port has changed how it groups costs several times, so compare the direction, not the exact dollars. Two examples: the 2017 to 2019 budgets list some wear and tear on grant-funded items separately, and it is not counted here; and the 2027 budget book restates the 2026 shortfall as $2.66M. The 2026 tax was later corrected to $8.21M.
Source: Port of Olympia adopted budgets, 2016 through 2026, income statements, and the 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, page 9.
Question 8
Why is this so hard to follow?
Because the Port's budget gives several answers to the same question, and the categories change from year to year. Here are four examples from the Port's own documents.
One year, five bottom lines
The 2027 draft reports all of these for the same year:
Operating surplus+$4.57M
Net margin+$37K
Operations deficit−$3.54M
Total net income+$7.18M
Change in savings−$8.92M
Each one is accurate. Which one you read first decides whether the year looks good or bad.
Money moves between categories
In 2025, about $2.85M of interest earned on savings was counted as income of the four businesses. In later years the same kind of income is counted separately. That makes 2025 look stronger than the years after it. The Port notes this in its budget book.
Last year's numbers get rewritten
The 2026 budget, as adopted, showed the businesses $3.32M short after wear and tear. The 2027 book lists that same 2026 budget as $2.66M short. The 2020 budget showed $0.29M left before wear and tear. A year later, the 2021 book listed the 2020 budget at $1.95M.
The tax figure changed after the vote
The Port calculated its 2026 property tax at $8.33M. Thurston County corrected the calculation, and the amount collected is $8.21M.
What this means: none of these examples shows that a number is wrong, and regrouping costs is common in government budgets. They show that a resident cannot easily compare one year with the next. That is why this page asks the same questions, with the same definitions, every year.
Source: 2027 Preliminary Operating Budget, pages 8, 9, 27, 28 and 29; Port of Olympia adopted budgets for 2020, 2021 and 2026, income statements.
Budget words, translated
The Port's budget book uses these terms. Tap one to see what it means.
Depreciation
Wear and tear. Docks, pavement and buildings lose value every year and will need replacing. Depreciation is the yearly estimate of that loss.
General and administrative (G&A)
Overhead. The shared office costs no single business owns: management, finance, legal, human resources and computers.
Operating and non-operating
Operating is money from running the four businesses. Non-operating is everything else: property taxes, grants, interest, cleanup and loan payments.
Net margin and net income
Net margin is what the businesses have left after running costs and overhead ($37,000). Net income adds taxes and grants and subtracts wear and tear and public costs ($7.2M). They answer different questions.
Tax levy
The total property tax the Port collects in a year. State law lets it grow 1% a year plus tax on new construction, unless voters approve more.
Capital investment plan
The list of things the Port plans to build or buy that last for years, such as a warehouse or a repaved taxiway.
Debt service
Yearly loan payments, including interest.