Posted on June 13, 2019
The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved a $1.6 billion fiscal year (FY) 2019/20 Annual Budget for the Port of Los Angeles. The approved budget lines up with the Port’s 2018-2022 Strategic Plan priorities, with an additional emphasis on sound financial management.
“While the Port of Los Angeles achieved record cargo volumes in 2018, this budget takes a purposeful and measured approach as we move into the next fiscal year,” said Jaime Lee, President of the Harbor Commission.
“Diligently pursuing the Port’s Strategic Plan objectives while maintaining financially sound management practices is our top priority for this budget,” said Marla Bleavins, the Port’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, whose team developed the proposed budget for consideration and approval by the Harbor Commission.
The approved budget forecasts a slight decrease in FY 2019/20 cargo volumes over the record-setting levels of the previous year, with a corresponding decrease in Port operating revenues and operating expenses. The Port’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget is up significantly over the previous year, given the many infrastructure improvements, terminal and rail projects currently underway or in the design phase at the nation’s #1 seaport.
Operating receipts represent the principal mechanism used by the Port to fund its day-to-day operations. In the approved budget, operating revenues are estimated at $499.7 million, a decrease of 1.9% over FY 2018/19, based on a cargo volume estimate of 9.4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). The majority of receipts—$409 million or 81.8%—will be derived from shipping services. Operating expenses over the next fiscal year are budgeted at $278 million, a decrease of 0.8% compared to FY 2018/19.
The Port has allocated $144.4 million to Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), a 58.8% increase over the previous fiscal year. Of that amount, $64.7 million will go to terminal improvements, $38 million to maritime services, $11.7 million to transportation upgrades and $8.5 million to security-related projects. This CIP budget also includes $21.5 million for LA Waterfront projects, $20.9 million of which comes from the Public Access Investment Plan.
The Plan allocates 10% of operating income annually to public access infrastructure projects and also provides additional investment in continued maintenance and programming of the LA Waterfront totaling more than $40 million annually committed to operations and capital investment in the LA Waterfront.
The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovatively strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $297 billion in trade during 2018. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs in the five-county Southern California region.
Source: seanews.co.uk
