BREMERTON — It's not every day 30 people show up to a sleepy, midsummer meeting of the Port of Bremerton commissioners.

But that was the case Tuesday evening when the state's top aviation official showed up to explain how important Bremerton National Airport is to the local economy.

"The value far exceeds whatever that cost may be," Tristan Atkins, director of the Department of Transportation Aviation Division, told the crowd of politicians, pilots and curious onlookers.

Atkins is visiting some of the state's 135 public airports to share the results of a study his office just released spelling out the value of those airports. He'll use the study to promote future investment in aviation in Washington.

For instance, he hopes to take a proposal to the 2013 Legislature that would redirect a larger portion of an excise tax paid by aircraft owners away from the state's general fund and toward aviation. Right now, the general fund receives 90 percent of the tax, and aviation gets what's left. Atkins wants to make it 50-50.

"My approach is not to increase taxes, but simply to restructure the existing system," he said.

Runways and taxiways at airports across the state need repaving and upgrades, and there's just not enough money to do all that's needed, he said.

"If we don't do something about it now, it's going to cost us more in the future," said Atkins, who before taking his current position last year was the longtime commander of the Washington State Patrol's fleet of planes.

Bremerton National's runway was repaved in 2009, but portions of it hadn't received a new top coat in 30 years.

According to the new study, 549 jobs — direct and indirect — are generated by activity at Bremerton National. That translates to $25 million in annual wages and $83 million in annual economic activity. 

Statewide, he said, public airports account for 248,500 jobs, $15 billion in wages and $51 billion in economic activity.

Most of that takes place at Washington's "Big Four" airports — Sea-Tac International, Paine Field, Boeing Field and Renton Municipal.

More about Bremerton National:

 * Some 194 aircraft are based there. Most are single-engine aircraft, but three jets, 11 multi-engine craft, five helicopters and one glider call the airport home, too.

 * Because there's little surrounding Bremerton National, it's seen among pilots as a favored place to train new pilots.

 * Each year, Bremerton National has about 65,000 takeoffs and landings.

The study also mentioned two other much smaller aircraft facilities in Kitsap County.

Apex Airpark near Silverdale has 55 aircraft based there. Some 19,600 takeoffs and landings occur there annually, and the small airstrip is responsible for 14 direct and indirect jobs.

The Port of Poulsbo's seaplane base has about 275 takeoffs and landings each year, but only has a small economic impact.

More on the DOT study, called the Aviation Economic Impact Study, is at the Aviation Division's website at www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation.  Most of the study was funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.