THE PORT EVERGLADES DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL.
This action supports the Broward County Board of County Commissioners' (Board) Value of "Ensuring economic opportunities for Broward's diverse population and businesses" and Goal to "Increase the economic strength and impact of revenue-generating County enterprises balancing economic, environmental, and community needs."
Port Everglades Tariff No. 12 (Tariff) provides the rules, regulations, and fees that govern the use of the facilities and services at the Port. As required by the Federal Maritime Commission, the Tariff is published on the Internet.
The Port Everglades Department held its annual meeting with Port tenants and users on July 12, 2018, to review the Department's Fiscal Year 2017 financial results, proposed capital and operating budgets for Fiscal Year 2019, and proposed Tariff changes. Port staff indicated the intent to seek Board approval of Tariff rate adjustments effective on October 1, 2018, corresponding with the commencement of the new Fiscal Year. Requested rate increases include approximately 3.0% for cargo, container, and petroleum dockage and wharfage; 3.5% for cruise dockage and wharfage; 3.0% for container crane rental; 10.0% for temporary assignment of land; and 3.0% for marine services. No rate increases are proposed for cargo security fees and garage and surface lot hourly parking rates.
In addition to the rate increases noted above, an additional change to the Tariff is proposed. Tariff Item No. 940 provides for the waiver or reduction of dockage charges for named events, including military vessels calling at Port Everglades for special events. One such event is the annual Port Everglades Fleet Week celebration. The existing Tariff authorizes the Port Everglades Chief Executive/Port Director to approve waivers or reductions up to $10,000, with any waiver or reduction exceeding that amount requiring approval by the Board.
By action of the Board on February 6, 2018, (Item No. 25) the County Attorney was directed to draft an amendment to the Administrative Code authorizing the Port Everglades Chief Executive/Port Director to take all necessary future actions to approve such dockage charge waivers specifically for the purposes of the annual Port Everglades Fleet Week in accordance with Tariff Item No. 940, with no limit on the amount that can be waived. The Tariff item language has been modified to include this new authority, but continues to limit the Chief Executive/Port Director's approval authority for all other events such as ship commissionings, christenings, dedications, maiden voyage promotions, and other similar events to $10,000 or less. Waivers or reductions of dockage charges exceeding $10,000 for such events will still require prior Board approval.
As shown in Exhibit 2, only a portion of revenue at the Port is tied directly to the Tariff rates. Of the $163,970,920 in projected Fiscal Year 2019 revenues, approximately 33% is from port user charges based on Tariff rates. The remaining 67% of revenue is based on contractual agreements with cruise lines, marine terminal operators, and leases. |