The Port of Los Angeles is projected to bring in $632 million in operating revenue next fiscal year, with expenses expected to increase 6.5% to $326 million, based on the port’s proposed 2022-23 budget, which officials rolled out late Thursday, April 14.
The budget discussion, during Thursday’s Los Angeles harbor commission meeting, came two days after the port announced the amount of cargo it moved last month amount to the best March in its history. The Port of LA also had its best first quarter, continuing a cargo surge that dates to the second half of 2020.
“If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s that uncertainty is certain,” said port Chief Financial Officer Marla Bleavins, referring an ongoing period that has seen a global pandemic, a supply chain crisis and war in Ukraine.
The increase in expenses include the port’s continued move to reach zero-emissions goals by 2030 for terminal equipment and by 2035 for trucks.
There also will be an increase in marketing because of upticks in container cruise incentives and purchase incentives for the clean trucks program.
The budget includes further infrastructure work on terminals and on an outdoor amphitheater for the West Harbor waterfront development.
Tony Gioiello, deputy executive director of development, said construction, labor and fuel costs are especially volatile and are “hard to predict right now” in terms of bids that will come in.
“We predict they will be coming in higher than normal,” he said.
The budget is slated to be adopted on June 9.
Among topics that garnered discussion was a push to make the Public Access Investment Plan a permanent fixture in the port’s budget.
The 10-year policy, passed in 2015, dedicates 10% of the port’s operating income for waterfront projects designed to improve community access. It is set to expire in 2025.
Harbor Commssioner Anthony Pirozzi suggested Thursday that the port should consider making it permanent.
And several of the neighborhood councils also weighed in.
“I think it’s very important for this community,” said Doug Epperhart of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council. “We need to keep in mind that maybe as important as the tourists who come to our community are our local tourists who live across the street and down the street.
“They’re the ones who will be supporting the waterfront,” he added, “and we want to see these things be improved, not just once, but as we go along.”
Echoing those views were leaders of the Wilmington, Central and Northwest neighborhood councils.
Besides the budget presentation, the nation’s busiest port on Thursday also announced a notice for environmental review — expected to take about a year — for a 108,000 square-foot outdoor amphitheater and an entertainment venue on approximately 2.5 acres within the West Harbor waterfront project.
The amphitheater will provide up to 6,200 seats and will host about 100 events a year from April through November, said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.
Public comments will be accepted until May 16.
The Los Angeles port wasn’t the only one to announce major news on Thursday.
LA’s neighbor, the Port of Long Beach, announced on Thursday that last month was its busiest March on record — capping thr most active quarter in its history.
The Port of Long Beach, the second busiest in the nation, reported that dockworkers and terminal operators processed 863,156 twenty-foot equivalent units in March, a 2.7% increase from the previous record set in the same month last year. (TEU is the universal cargo measurement.)
Imports increased 4.7% to 427,280 units while exports declined 18.3% to 114,185 units. Empty containers increased 10% to 321,691 units.
“Imports are on the rise as we continue to clear the line of ships waiting to enter our Port and move containers off the docks,” Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said in a statement. “Collaborating with our industry stakeholders has led to notable improvements across the supply chain.”
March is typically one of the slowest months for cargo, the port said, but Long Beach has been extra busy clearing cargo from the docks amid supply chain delays and a backlog of ships waiting to enter the port complex.
“Our dockworkers should be commended for a successful March by going above and beyond to keep goods moving,” said Long Beach harbor commission President Steven Neal. “Our partnerships with labor and industry continue to make us a leader in trans-Pacific trade.”
The Port of Long Beach ended the first quarter of 2021 with more than 2.46 million units processed, a 3.6% increase from 2021’s first quarter. It also broke the previous record for any quarter, previously held by the fourth quarter of 2020, which had 54,649 less units than last quarter.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are responsible for about 40% of all imports into the United States.
March was the third-best month overall for the Los Angeles port.
City News Service contributed to this report.