COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM Item No. 8b
ACTION ITEM Date of Meeting June 13, 2023
DATE: June 2, 2023
TO: Steve Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Eloise Olivar, AFR Senior Manager Disbursements
SUBJECT: Claims and Obligations –May 2023
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 May 1
st
through 31
st
, 2023 as follows:
Payment Type Payment Reference
Start Number
Payment
Reference End
Number
Amount
Accounts Payable Checks
948280
948658
$ 8,021,248.56
Accounts Payable ACH
054771
055597
$ 48,648,114.68
Accounts Payable Wire Transfers
016059
016079
$ 14,979,904.64
Payroll Checks
206876
207267
$ 151,653.27
Payroll ACH
1135452
1139913
$ 14,156,779.23
Total Payments
$ 85,957,700.38
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.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8b
Meeting Date June 13, 2023
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 May 2023, over $71,649,267.88 in payments were made to nearly 750 vendors, comprised
of 2,460 invoices and over 9,743 accounting expense transactions. About 91 percent of the accounts payable
payments made in the month fall into the Construction, Employee Benefits, Payroll Taxes, Leasehold Taxes,
Contracted Services, Janitorial Services, Utility Expenses, Sales Taxes, Maintenance Inventory and Legal.
Payroll expenses for the month of May were $14,308,432.50.
Top 15 Payment Category Summary:
Category
Payment Amount
Construction
30,435,525.76
Employee Benefits
10,323,495.11
Payroll Taxes
5,773,895.09
Leasehold Taxes
4,891,434.55
Contracted Services
4,861,662.64
Janitorial Services
2,984,568.08
Utility Expenses
2,617,670.21
Sales Taxes
1,451,356.26
Maintenance Inventory
1,039,336.30
Legal
1,008,818.79
Room/Space/Land Rental
767,943.76
Software
705,415.42
Parking Taxes
632,218.29
Computers & Telephone
585,717.86
Equipment Maintenance
496,097.50
Other Categories Total:
3,074,112.26
Net Payroll
14,308,432.50
Total Payments:
$85,957,700.38
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8b
Meeting Date June 13, 2023
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 June 13, 2023, 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