COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM Item No. 6i
ACTION ITEM Date of Meeting February 11, 2020
DATE: February 4, 2020
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Duane Hill, AFR Senior Manager Disbursements
SUBJECT: Claims and Obligations – January 2020
ACTION REQUESTED
Request commission approval of the Port Auditor’s payment of the salaries and claims of the Port of Seattle
pursuant to RCW 42.24.180 for payments issued during the period January 1 through January 31, 2020, as
follows:
OVERSIGHT
Pursuant to RCW 42.24.180, “the Port’s legislative body” (the Commission) is required to approve in a public
meeting, all payments of claims within one month of issuance.
All these payments have been previously authorized either through direct Commission action or delegation of
authority to the Executive Director and through his or her staff. Detailed information on Port expenditures is
provided to the Commission through comprehensive budget presentations as well as the publicly released
Budget Document, which provides an even greater level of detail. The Port’s operating and capital budget is
approved by resolution in November for the coming fiscal year, and the Commission also approves the Salary
and Benefit Resolution around the same time to authorize pay and benefit programs. Notwithstanding the
Port’s budget approval, individual capital projects and contracts exceeding certain dollar thresholds are also
subsequently brought before the Commission for specific authorization prior to commencement of the project
or contract—if they are below the thresholds the Executive Director is delegated authority to approve them.
Expenditures are monitored against budgets monthly by management and reported comprehensively to the
Commission quarterly.
11,218,092.95$
263,553.15$
11,948,754.58$
Payroll ACH
949273
934235
024293
015309
195712
953599
Payroll Checks
Payment Reference
Start Number
Payment
Reference End
Number
Amount
933641
023343
015294
195505
8,783,602.58$
76,034,381.74$
Payment Type
Accounts Payable Checks
Accounts Payable ACH
Accounts Payable Wire Transfers
108,248,385.00$
Total Payments
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 6i
Meeting Date: February 11, 2020
Page 2 of 3
Effective internal controls over all Port procurement, contracting and disbursements are also in place to
ensure proper central oversight, delegation of authority, separation of duties, payment approval and
documentation, and signed perjury statement certifications for all payments. Port disbursements are also
regularly monitored against spending authorizations. All payment transactions and internal controls are
subject to periodic Port internal audits and annual external audits conducted by both the State Auditor’s
Office and the Port’s independent auditors.
For the month of January 2020 over $96 million in payments were made to nearly 889 vendors, comprised of
2,949 invoices and over 18,306 accounting expense transactions. About 85 percent of the accounts payable
payments made in the month fall into the Construction, Contracted Services, Employee Benefits, Leasehold
Taxes and Payroll Taxes expense categories. Net payroll expense for the month of January was $12,212,307.73
The following chart summarizes the top expense categories by total spend.
Category Payment Amount
Construction
$ 56,477,230.93
Contracted Services
$ 7,589,590.06
Employee Benefits
$ 7,448,478.32
Leasehold Taxes
$ 4,804,044.04
Payroll Taxes
$ 4,627,709.86
Utility Expenses
$ 2,625,903.26
Environmental Remediation
$ 2,008,391.42
Sales Taxes
$ 1,503,786.56
Software
$ 1,300,059.48
Bond Fees
$ 849,813.51
Maintenance Inventory
$ 757,959.82
Parking Taxes
$ 644,508.80
Room/Space/Land Rental
$ 618,164.33
Public Expense
$ 560,665.78
Membership Dues
$ 554,066.14
Other Categories Total :
$ 3,665,704.96
Net Payroll
12,212,307.73$
Total Payments :
$ 108,248,385.00
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 6i
Meeting Date: February 11, 2020
Page 3 of 3
Appropriate and effective internal controls are in place to ensure that the above obligations were processed in
accordance with Port of Seattle procurement/payment policies and delegation of authority.
At a meeting of the Port Commission held February 11, 2020 it is hereby moved that, pursuant to RCW
42.24.180, the Port Commission approves the Port Auditor’s payment of the above salaries and claims of the
Port:
Port Commission
