LOS ANGELES — The Port of Los Angeles commissioners approved Friday a $1.17 billion fiscal year
"The budget allocations approved today allow us to stay the course and continue building a healthy, strong and vibrant Port that is ready to compete globally in the years ahead," the Harbor Commission's president, Vilma Martinez, said in a news release.
The port is rated AA by S&P Global Ratings, Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service, and AA by Fitch Ratings. All have a stable outlook. They are the highest credit ratings for any stand-alone U.S. port, according to the port's 2015-16 comprehensive annual financial report.
The port doesn't anticipate issuing long-term debt in the near term, but may "draw upon its $200 million commercial paper program," according to a March 27 Fitch Ratings report.
Fitch Ratings analysts also wrote that the port's capital improvement plan is manageable at $803 million through fiscal 2020.
With many capital improvement programs wrapping up in fiscal year 2015/16, the Port's newly approved $146.1 million capital improvement plan anticipates a 24% decrease relative to the prior year budget, port officials said.
The port, approximately 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, operates primarily as a landlord, as opposed to an operating port. Its docks, wharves, transit sheds, and terminals are leased to shipping or terminal companies, agents, and to other private firms.
The port must be financially self-sufficient through the revenues it generates as it has no taxing authority, according to the 2015-16 CAFR. When appropriate, it seeks to obtain state and federal funding for defined projects.
The budget anticipates 1.9% growth over the prior year budget to roughly 8.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units annually, which is how ports measure container trade traffic.
"We've worked extremely hard to optimize the supply chain at both the national and international levels," the port's executive director, Gene Seroka, said in a release. "While this work needs to continue, our supply chain initiatives have started to show early results."
The budget includes operating expenses of $249.0 million, a 3.6% increase over the previous year, and driven primarily by increases in salaries and benefits and a reduction in capitalized expenditures.
