Thursday, October 1, 2026
The lack of a complete habitat conservation plan (HCP) continues to hamper revenue growth for Olympia Regional Airport.
Airport Senior Manager Chris Paolini addressed the situation in a report about the airport’s financial performance in the first half of the year. He delivered the report to the Port of Olympia Commission at a meeting on Monday, July 28.
Paolini said the airport generated $1,758,278 in revenue in the first half of the year, compared with $1,624,501 in the same period last year. All told, the airport earned $103,011 after depreciation and administrative costs.
“Without new revenue opportunities, we rely on the rent increases that are built into the lease contracts, as well as the rent adjustments on hangars and a few other options that are set by the commission each year,” Paolini said.
“We are limited on that new revenue right now until the HCP is in place,” he added.
A habitat conservation plan would facilitate the development of areas where species are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would have to approve the plan, which describes strategies for mitigating the effect of a proposed development on impacted species.
Currently, the port and City of Tumwater are jointly working on an HCP, a partnership that started in 2016.
The airport requires an HCP, as it sits in an area considered habitat for the Olympia pocket gopher and streaked horned lark.
Without an approved HCP, Tumwater cannot permit the development of properties in or near the airport. An example is the 95-acre acre airport property being leased by Swire, a Coca-Cola bottler, which plans to construct a manufacturing facility and warehouse on the property.
Panattoni Development Company also has an agreement with the port, giving it the exclusive right to lease and develop the New Market Industrial Campus in a 200-acre area south of Tumwater Boulevard.
Much of the land is considered gopher habitat, but the port commission approved a lease agreement for 29 acres of the land, which was certified as gopher-free by the City of Tumwater.
Paolini said restrictions to those two properties deprive the port of around $6 million in revenue.
He said the money could be used for preventive maintenance programs, to acquire mitigation land as part of the HCP, and to invest in emerging technologies and green energy.
Paolini said the lack of new revenue makes the airport susceptible to vacancy rates and turnover.
According to the financial report, land leases generated $1,120,458, representing 64% of the airport’s revenue. Space and hanger rentals produced $547,581, which was 31% of the revenue. Landing fees and fuel flowage fees are less than 1 percent of the revenue.
Paolini added the annual rate of revenue growth is below the growth rate of expenses.
Commission President Jasmine Vasavada questioned whether rate adjustments on the lease agreements account for rising costs.
Paolini said rate adjustments can only do so much since airports have historically relied on federal grants. Due to growing infrastructure needs and limitations in federal funding, Paolini said for the past few decades, airports have become more dependent on self-generated revenue.
“The perfect solution is allowing us to develop those areas that can be developed to offset some of those costs,” he said.
Airport’s financial performance
According to the financial report, revenue comes from the airport, New Market Industrial Complex, and the Cleanwater Center, a commercial complex north of the airport.
The three generated the following revenue in the first half of 2025:
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RondaLarsonKramer
This article omits very important information: Tumwater relies on the aquifer beneath the airport for most of its drinking water. The Port’s plan for development threatens this water supply. The airport property is one of the most vulnerable properties that our hydrogeologist has ever worked on in 30 years, in terms of water resources. Yet the airport is planning to put a de-icing facility (with dangerous chemicals) in the wellhead protection area for the main source of city drinking water. Why is the Port not talking about this? Because it is instead talking about the pocket gophers that are not allowing it to develop the airport. The gophers are saving Tumwater’s bacon. We ought to thank those little guys.
Saturday, August 9, 2025 Report this
jimlazar
The Port of Olympia financial statements remain deceptive, vastly exaggerating the financial health of the Port as a whole and each of the operating units.
The first page of the financial statement linked in this article shows the Port in the black, with an "Increase in Financial Position" of $1.2 million. But look just above that, and you will see that they included $3.98 million of property taxes in reaching that "bottom line." Without the property tax, the Port lost $2.8 million in the first six months.
Then, if you go to the Airport and Marine Terminal pages of the financial report (Page 2 and Page 37, the Port shows these two operations with $103,000 of operating income for the airport, and and operating loss of ($184,000) for the Marine Terminal. But these figures do not include the $400,000 of interest on bonds, most of which is attributable to the Marine Terminal and Airport. When that is included, both operating are losing money.
I have asked the Port for several years now to show the interest expense for each business unit as a part of the calculation of income from each business element, and they continue to hide the ball. Others have asked them for years to show the property tax revenue separately from the calculation of Net Income, so we can see how their actual operations are doing. They continue to hide the ball.
Our $8 million in annual property tax may feel like a revenue to the Port, but it's definitely taking $8 million/year in spending power from our community.
It's time for the Port of Olympia to start keeping honest books and report how much they lose, after paying property tax, booking depreciation, allocating administrative expense, and before counting property tax.
Saturday, August 9, 2025 Report this
Boatyarddog
Considering the Pompous behavior of The POO in Matters concerning Enviroment, The Lies told by planners, The Half baked Plans, The waste of resources, the lack of respect to the Enviromental Community, the continued Blunt force the Developers deal to the Public. They Should go thru Every step bound by legal contract, NO LOOPHOLES!
Saturday, August 9, 2025 Report this
BettyVerdammt
The airport's profitability is marginal with Federal subsidy. How essential is the airport to our local economy? Maybe the future is conversion of the airport to use as a commercial aerial drone port?
Sunday, August 10, 2025 Report this
JW
End the Port. The Port's taxation is pure theft.
Sunday, August 10, 2025 Report this
SecondOtter
The Port of Olympia needs to be defunded and decommissioned. The airport is not ''considered" gopher habitat..it IS gopher habitat, gophers are living on it at this moment.
The Port Commissioners are trying every trick in the book to turn Oly Regional airport into a feeder airport for SEATAC. They have continually lied to us, continually glossed over things like aquifers that we all depend on, making it sound as if we're a bunch of NIMBY's. Well, we ARE. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain but screwing us.
We don't need expansion of the airport, we need it to be turned into something useful-like a regional recreation center, for ALL of tumwater and Thurston county, not just the wealthy private aircraft owners and Big Brother SEATAC seeing us as just an impediment to their plans to get even richer. Honestly, they considers us merely bipedal gophers...something to push aside, ignore, eradicate if possible. We are In The Way.
We pay the commissioners salary. Do they LISTEN to us? No. They hear us, like any sullen teenager, but it goes no further than their external ears. We're a bother. That's all, but do keep up the 'compensation'.
Consider Swire/Coca cola. Do you really believe Coke will treat our water as anything but a FREE resource to be extracted-in the MILLIONS of gallons- bottled (in plastic bottles) and then sold back to us at five bucks a bottle? What will you do when your well goes dry? Will they compensate? Uh huh, sure.
Oh, I hear them. "Jobs" High paying jobs? One's with a pension, health insurance, paid time off? Pffft. Nope. Minimum wage jobs at best. And maybe a dozen jobs?
Shut down the entire Port of Olympia. They should be responsible for the port itself, not land.
Saturday, August 16, 2025 Report this