The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has approved a $2.6 billion dollar budget for the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department for fiscal year (FY) 2024/25.
The revenue and spending plan supports the Port of Los Angeles’ priorities of community investment, decarbonisation of port-related operations, workforce development and cargo infrastructure modernisation.
Buoyed by steady cargo volumes over the last nine months, the approved FY 2024/25 budget forecasts a total of 9.1 million TEU, a modest 2 per cent increase over the previous fiscal year’s adopted budget.
The boost in cargo is expected to result in a 4.9 per cent increase in FY 2024/25 operating revenues, forecast at $684.7 million, with shipping services comprising about 75 per cent of those revenues.
Proposed operating expenses in the FY 2024/25 budget are forecast at $403.7 million, representing an 8.4 per cent increase compared to the previous fiscal year’s adopted budget. The increase is largely driven by increased staffing needs and the filling of open positions at the Harbor Department.
In the approved budget, $257.7 million is dedicated to the Port’s capital improvement program (CIP), a 19 per cent increase over the previous fiscal year’s adopted budget.
Major CIP appropriations include $44.3 million for the State Route 47/Vincent Thomas Bridge & Front Street/Harbor Boulevard Interchange Reconfiguration; $15.3 million for the Zero-Emission Port Electrification and Operation program; $14.2 million for restoration and improvements at the Pasha Terminal; and $12.5 million for Marine Oil Terminals Maintenance Standards (MOTEMS) projects, among several other initiatives.
Another $28.5 million in CIP funds will go toward LA Waterfront public access improvements in both Wilmington and San Pedro. The major projects to be funded in FY 2024/25 include the San Pedro Waterfront Promenade – Phase II, and the Wilmington Waterfront Avalon Pedestrian Bridge & Promenade Gateway.
The CIP budget also includes $4 million toward planning for the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Good Movement Workforce Training Facility. The $150 million facility will be the first workforce training facility in the US dedicated to the goods movement sector and career training in longshore work, trucking and warehousing. The project’s environmental review process kicked off earlier this year.
“This year’s budget takes a prudent approach that carefully balances revenues and expenses, and sets up the Port well for the future,” said Los Angeles Harbor Commission President Lucille Roybal-Allard.
“Most importantly, the plan will allow us to stay the course and follow through on many strategic priorities and industry leading initiatives in the coming year.”
READ: Port of Los Angeles’ throughput rises 30 per cent in Q1 2024
“With a healthy economy, continued consumer spending and a strong U.S. labor market, we are optimistic about cargo volumes for the next fiscal year,” said Port Executive Director Gene Seroka.
“We’ve prepared a budget that leaves room for unanticipated changes in the global trade market or other uncertainties that may arise.”
