COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM Item No. 8b
ACTION ITEM Date of Meeting January 25, 2022
DATE: January 3, 2022
TO: Steve Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Duane Hill, AFR Senior Manager Disbursements
SUBJECT: Claims and Obligations – December 2021
ACTION REQUESTED
Request Port Commission approval of the Port Auditor’s payment of the salaries and claims of the Port pursuant
to RCW 42.24.180 for payments issued during the period December 1 through 31, 2021 as follows:
Payment Type
Payment Reference
Start Number
Payment Reference
End Number
Amount
Accounts Payable Checks
941898
942238
$ 4,316,026.35
Accounts Payable ACH
040754
041759
$ 55,297,956.81
Accounts Payable Wire Transfers
015737
015759
$ 10,582,120.76
Payroll Checks
200360
202102
$ 53,787.91
Payroll ACH
1056348
1060501
$ 12,208,491.26
Total Payments
$ 82,458,383.09
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.
OVERSIGHT
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 December 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.
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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 December 2021, over $70,196,103.92 in payments were made to nearly 728 vendors,
comprised of 2,004 invoices and over 7,661 accounting expense transactions. About 93 percent of the
accounts payable payments made in the month fall into the Construction, Employee Benefits, Payroll Taxes,
Contracted Services, Public Expense, Janitorial Services, Utility Expenses, Sales Tax, Maintenance Inventory,
and other expense categories. Net payroll expense for the month of December was $12,262,279.17.
Other Categories Total :
1,587,540.58
Net Payroll
12,262,279.17
Total Payments :
$82,458,383.09
Top 15 Payment Category Summary:
Category
Payment Amount
Construction
36,603,216.30
Employee Benefits
8,043,368.84
Payroll Taxes
6,636,091.10
Contracted Services
5,937,059.60
Public Expense
2,743,174.28
Janitorial Services
2,038,673.46
Utility Expenses
1,719,503.23
Sales Taxes
1,127,714.22
Maintenance Inventory
766,554.18
Bond Fees
703,122.74
Environmental Remediation
621,786.35
Software
523,104.99
Legal
459,518.10
Parking Taxes
438,728.88
Computers & Telephone
246,947.07
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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 on January 25, 2022, 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