Port of Vancouver commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a $85.2 million budget for 2017 and tax levy that will not increase.
The port’s 2017 budget is $8.3 million larger than its 2016 budget and includes an expected $34.6 million to complete the West Vancouver Freight Access project and other construction and capital projects.
Port revenues are anticipated to drop in a few key areas in the next year. Revenues from marine operations are expected to be $25.9 million, a 9.75 percent decrease from the $28.7 million projected in 2016. Industrial activity is expected to bring in $9.9 million in revenue, which is down slightly from the 2016 projection of $10.5 million.
The port expects $37.07 million in operating revenues and just under $30 million in operating expenses.
As for nonoperating revenue, the port is opting to forgo any increases to its property tax levy for the fifth consecutive year, with tax revenues holding at $10 million. Also included in nonoperating revenues is $3.2 million in grants awarded for rail construction and other programs.
The capital improvement program budget includes just over $44 million. More than 60 percent of the capital budget is set to continue work on the West Vancouver Freight Access project. The remaining amount is split between the Centennial Industrial Park warehouse and facility, and terminal improvements and capital maintenance projects.
Roughly $8.6 million will be transferred from the port’s general fund, according to the port’s finance department. But that figure could fluctuate depending on things like bidding results operating profits. The remaining potential $26 million will be issued as bonds.
The money will go to finishing the port’s Freight Access project, which is expected to be completed next year, the port’s industrial facility in Centennial Industrial Park and ongoing maintenance of other assets.
Separately, the port also plans to replace its 88-year-old 100,000-gallon water tank with a new 250,000-gallon tank. Next year, the port plans to take the early steps to replace and upgrade the dock at Terminal 1 at the waterfront in downtown Vancouver.
Ron Morrison, a citizen who has regularly observed port meetings, questioned the port’s tactics of borrowing nearly 40 percent of the operating budget.
“Port revenues are far less than needed to support the port spending — that needs to change,” he said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Commissioner Jerry Oliver responded by saying he didn’t take the concerns lightly, but the port is just about to finish the West Vancouver Freight Access project, a large project that began several years ago and is anticipated by port officials to be a moneymaker for the region’s future.
“This borrowing is necessary to pay for the construction of that project,” he said. “I’d think of it as an investment in the future of the port so we can generate exceptional future revenues as we have in the recent past.”
