PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 

AUDIT COMMITTEE BRIEFING 

DATE:    August 27, 2009 
TO:      Commission Audit Committee 
FROM:    Dan Thomas, Chief Financial Officer 
Rudy Caluza, Director, Accounting & Financial Reporting 
SUBJECT:  Briefing to contract with Moss Adams to conduct the Financial Statement, Single
Audit, and Passenger Facility Charge audits of the Port for 2009 and to seek
authorization by the Port Commission. 

Annual independent audits are required for the financial statements of the Port and the
Warehousemen's Pension Trust Fund for purposes of obtaining an independent auditors opinion
as to the fairness in presentation of the financial results and position, and independent audits are
required of the Port's administration of federal grants and Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)
revenues in accordance with applicable regulations. 
Pursuant to a formal request for proposal (RFP) process conducted by the Port in 2006, the Port 
Commission approved on July 25, 2006 award of the contract for audit services to Moss Adams.
The term of audit services contained in the RFP is for fiscal years ending December 31, 2006,
2007 and 2008, along with an opportunity to extend another two years. This action exercises the
first of the two year extensions to cover the 2009 audit period. 
The fee for the 2009 audit services is $577,600, which is a reduction of 5% or $30,400 from the
previous 2008 audit services engagement of $608,000. Moss Adams is honoring the Port's 2009
"Contracts Cost Saving" priority, which calls for negotiating up to a 5% contract cost reduction.
Based on Inside Public Accounting's August 2009, "Top 100 Accounting Firms" industry
research, the 2009 audit fee growth rate for the U.S. Western Region is 6.8%, which to the
contrary Moss Adams has agreed to a 5% reduction. 
Fiscal transparency and accountability, and retaining public trust, are priorities of the Port
Commission that lead to the Port continuing to engage both the State Auditor's Office (SAO)
and a national independent Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm to conduct the various
separate key audits of the Port. The SAO conducts Public Accountability/Legal Compliance and
Performance audits thereby, allowing the Port to benefit from the depth of expertise of the SAO
to conduct such audits of public agencies. A national/regional independent CPA firm conducts 
the Financial Statement audit, Single Audit (federal grants regulatory compliance) and PFC audit 
(Federal Aviation Administration regulatory compliance) thereby, enabling the Port to leverage

Audit Committee Agenda 
Briefing on Moss Adams Contract for 2009 Audit Services 
August 27, 2009 
Page 2 
the depth of expertise that such CPA firms bring in auditing large and complex proprietary
enterprises such as the Port. This combined breadth of audit resources assures the public the
most effective pool of expertise and audit rigor. 
To ensure timely reporting to the public and to the Port's bondholders, the Port holds our
independent CPA firm contractually accountable to complete their audit and issue the
independent auditor opinion on the Port's financial statements by April 30th of each year, which
then enables the Port to issue its financial statements by the first week of May. Furthermore, the
CPA firm is required to complete and issue both the Single Audit and PFC audit reports by June
30th of each year.
Moss Adams will need to work under rigid timelines with Audit Planning during Sept-Oct which
encompass risk assessments, prepared-by-client schedules required of the Port, and interviews of
key Port leadership; Interim Audit Fieldwork during Oct-Dec which encompass internal controls
& significant accounts testing and audit procedures for federal awards administration; Year-end
Audit Fieldwork during Feb-March which encompass the audit of Port's financial statements and
testing the Schedule of Federal Awards; and then internal quality assurance & concurring
partner review during April. 
Consideration and approval by the Port Commission will need to occur at the September 17,
2009 meeting in order to mitigate delays in completing the audits and issuance of the Port's
financial statements. 
Thank you.