The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to delay implementation of a per-container tax that was supposed to generate up to $1.4 billion for bridge, rail and road infrastructure within the city's port area and within the neighboring Port of Long Beach.
The vote confirms an identical decision by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners in July that postponed any collection of the tax until July 1, 2010.
Due to the structure of the Los Angeles city government, certain decisions made by the Harbor Commission must be affirmed by the City Council.
Officials at the adjacent Port of Long Beach decided in April to postpone any collection of the tax until at least July 1, 2010.
The two ports jointly approved the collection of the container tax in January 2008, with an original implementation date of Jan. 1, 2009. The tax, which would have varied between $6-per-TEU and $20-per-TEU and would have been imposed on all loaded inbound and outbound boxes, was supposed to be collected through 2015.
The vote confirms an identical decision by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners in July that postponed any collection of the tax until July 1, 2010.
Due to the structure of the Los Angeles city government, certain decisions made by the Harbor Commission must be affirmed by the City Council.
Officials at the adjacent Port of Long Beach decided in April to postpone any collection of the tax until at least July 1, 2010.
The two ports jointly approved the collection of the container tax in January 2008, with an original implementation date of Jan. 1, 2009. The tax, which would have varied between $6-per-TEU and $20-per-TEU and would have been imposed on all loaded inbound and outbound boxes, was supposed to be collected through 2015.
