When Mayor Lary Coppola wrote to the commissioners of the Port of Bremerton, asking for investments in Port Orchard’s efforts to redevelop the old part of town, the reaction was not favorable.
Coppola noted the many millions of dollars spent in Bremerton by the port district for the new marina and the possible purchase of land from Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority (KCCHA) on the waterfront as a site for future development.
He suggested that it is his city’s turn for some help from the Port of Bremerton in redeveloping the area near the marina in Port Orchard.
Public funds have indeed been spent by the bushels in an effort to revitalize what was downtown Bremerton.
The ferry terminal, a convention center, the combined city hall and government office building, the old theater, the marina, and the tunnel from the ferry terminal all soaked up a lot of revenue.
Unless someone pulls a rabbit out of the hat, taxpayers will also have to pay a big part of the cost of KCCHA’s condominium project known as Harborside. The county promised to cover the difference, if revenue from sales didn’t pay the construction cost.
Much of the spending in Bremerton followed a plan developed many years ago that was once known as Sinclair Landing, but there was one big difference — tax revenue took the place of private capital.
The plan isn’t complete yet. Passenger-only ferry service is missing, and the marina doesn’t have adequate parking for boaters.
Spending by the Port of Bremerton has played a big part in this revitalization effort. The marina cost more than $30 million.
But the port district wasn’t acting alone.
The leaders of the county, city, Kitsap Transit, and KCCHA, as well as our congressman, coordinated their efforts to pour public funds into Bremerton.
And now, one of those leaders, Mayor Cary Bozeman of Bremerton, has accepted employment as the new chief executive officer of the Port of Bremerton.
It may be, as Mayor Coppola suggested, Port Orchard’s turn next; but that turn may not come for a long time.
The Port of Bremerton still has to figure out how to make its investment in an expanded Bremerton marina pay off, if that’s possible.
The Sustainable Energy and Economic Development project (SEED) is also in line for port district funding of its business incubator and dreams of a “clean technology” center in the South Kitsap Industrial Area (SKIA).
Landowners within the SKIA have their hopes for public investment to provide infrastructure needed to attract businesses to an area that is “off the beaten path.”
These ideas for promoting economic development have one thing in common, namely, the need for public funds to take the place of private investment.
As the years of effort put into the Sinclair Landing concept and into developing the land in SKIA have shown, private businesses aren’t trampling each other in a rush to be in Bremerton or South Kitsap.
This doesn’t mean that significant privately funded economic development will never happen, but it is a sure sign that it isn’t likely to happen on its own.
If we had limitless public revenue to spread around, the need for public spending to attract private investment wouldn’t present a problem; but there is a limit.
After pouring funds into Bremerton, our leaders may find it difficult in the near future to take on other projects.
Now that the county commissioners have struggled with the problem of abiding by the contingent loan agreement to cover KCCHA’s debts for the Harborside condominiums, they may not be likely to speculate again with the county taxpayers’ funds.
Bremerton has annexed SKIA, but the city has its own budget shortfalls to handle.
The Port of Bremerton depends on property taxes to supplement its operating income, and the annual tax revenue increases aren’t likely to satisfy all demands for spending.
Until the dreams of revitalizing Bremerton, developing SKIA, and starting SEED are realized or abandoned, the demands on the port district’s funding will apparently take all its locally available revenue.
Bob Meadows is a Port Orchard resident.
