The St. Augustine Port, Waterway, and Beach District was originally established in the late 1930’s to fulfill the requirement of local sponsor for the Army Corps of Engineer’s St. Augustine Inlet project. The District was enabled by the Florida Legislature and subsequently approved by referendum vote of the citizens residing within the District boundaries. Over the years, the District has come to be known locally as the “Port Authority” or the “Port District”.

Five at-large elected commissioners govern the District, each serving four-year terms. Until 1998, all commissioners stood for election at the same time. At that time, the District’s commissioners voted to stagger election dates, with two commissioners elected for four-year terms in one election year and three commissioners elected for four-year terms the next election year.The enabling legislation gave the District ad valorem taxing authority as well as a broad range of authority for building warehouses, wharfs, bridges, and other structures for the commercial development of the port.

Oddly enough, the District was even given the authority to build airports. The District has title to a number of submerged parcels mostly in and around the St. Augustine harbor area. The District has no full time support staff, but employs the services of an engineering firm, a legal firm, an accounting firm and a secretarial service. The original boundaries of the District encompassed then what was the major population base of St. Johns County.