WOULD COAL PAY OFF?
Gateway Pacific Terminal fans tout tax benefits, while critics have concerns with costs By Evan Marczynski evan@bbjtoday.com
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upporters of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point have found new reasons to claim the export facility would bring benefits to the region. But critics are still concerned over potential downsides to the project. SSA Marine of Seattle, the company behind the $665 million proposal, released a study in October that projected the Gateway terminal could bring $7 million in annual property tax revenue and tax savings, including more than $1.7 million to Whatcom County and more than $1.6 million to Washington state. SSA commissioned the consulting firm FCS Group to complete the study, which looks at the terminal’s potential financial benefits should it reach its full build-out, with an expected annual shipping capacity of 54 million metric tons. The terminal is expected to ship mainly coal, at least initially. Coal, which would be brought to Cherry Point along rail lines from mines in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, has been the hot point of controversy as the public comment period for the environmental “scoping” process of the project continues around the region. Craig Cole, an SSA spokesperson, said even though the Gateway terminal is not projected to be at full capacity right away—the company has said the terminal could handle up to 25 million metric tons of commodities initially, while full capacity would depend on market values—the property tax benefits would be
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The Bellingham Business Journal
December 2012
BBJToday
ART IS MONEY, PAGE 7
WHATCOM JOBLESS LEVEL HITS FOUR-YEAR LOW Recent estimates put unemployment rate at 6.4 percent, private sector growth strong By Evan Marczynski evan@bbjtoday.com
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A train carrying coal moves through the Bellingham waterfront. (Inset) Critics outweighed supporters at an environmental “scoping” meeting in Friday Harbor last month. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO (INSET) SCOTT RASMUSSEN PHOTO
seen immediately upon its completion. That would be the result of the company building a new wharf and pier on the Cherry Point property, a 1,200-acre parcel of land about 18 miles northwest of Bellingham. Cole said the wharf and pier would raise the overall value of
the terminal, regardless of how much material is shipped. “The property tax benefits are upfront,” Cole said. “That is frontloaded in the construction.” According to the study, the terminal is also expected to generate more than 1,200 jobs at full capacity with a payroll above $128 million. It would also gener-
ate $700,000 in annual sales-anduse tax revenues for Whatcom County jurisdictions, with the bulk of the impact going toward Bellingham, Lynden and Ferndale, according to the study. But while supporters see these numbers as selling points for the project, the terminal’s critics look at impacts of a broader nature. Shannon Wright is the executive director for Communitywise Bellingham, a nonprofit group that has released several studies in the past year critically analyzing the Gateway terminal. Communitywise’s studies have focused on the negative impact of coal-train traffic in Bellingham, including impacts on waterfront businesses, rail congestion and TERMINAL | Page 5
hatcom County’s unemployment rate in October reached its lowest level in nearly four years. Unemployment in the county was at 6.4 percent in October, according to preliminary estimates from the state Employment Security Department. That rate is below a revised 6.9 percent estimate from September 2012, and a 7.4 percent level from October of last year. The region saw unemployment fall at the same time the workforce added nearly 2,500 people, a combination that labor market economist Elizabeth Court said was “pretty striking.” A downturn in unemployment coupled with labor-force growth might show employers are becoming more robust in their
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