A load of Dungeness crab are brought up from a boat tied up at the Port of Peninsula in Nahcotta in 2021. The port serves economically important industries.

We continue to face unacceptable delays from the Port of Peninsula in complying with public records requests. Port Manager Jay Personius said this Monday that fulfilling these formal calls for taxpayer-funded information is a work in progress. It remains to be seen if and when we receive an actual response.

The port has been much in the news. It is a perplexing situation, in which the county’s wealthiest port has gotten into a pickle with the Washington Department of Ecology and other agencies. Pacific County officials have said that the port’s bills are sometimes not paid on time and invoices aren’t sent out.

It may come as a surprise to some readers that the port is so well endowed with taxes. Sitting off to the east of State Route 103/Sandridge, it is known to most as a center for the peninsula’s share of the county’s large and economically vital oyster industry. A slice of its income comes from moorage fees, leases and other sources. But taxpayers have a huge interest in the port.

The port’s basic levy for 2023 comes to $405,574. In addition, it has a Peninsula Industrial Development District levy for $688,645, for a current total of almost $1.1 million. This compares to taxes of $198,766 for Ilwaco, $324,567 for the Port of Willapa Harbor (Raymond and Tokeland), and $73,852 for Port of Chinook.

Why is the Nahcotta port so well off? Port district lines were drawn at a time when residential development on the peninsula was still in its infancy. There was no Surfside, for example. Long Beach was still mainly a place of little vacation cottages. But nowadays, the Port of Peninsula has a tax base of $2,374,116,446 — giving the port nearly 46% of the entire county total.

It could face hard pushback from current port administrations and interest groups, but citizens might be better served by uniting the three south county port districts under one top manager and financial officer. It’s an idea that deserves careful study. They aren’t supposed to be — and shouldn’t be — operated like private clubs. There’s too much at stake.

With good will toward all, we look forward to the Port of Peninsula being restored to a normal and responsive publicly owned asset.