By Karen Robes Meeks
Long Beach harbor leaders recently recommended the approval of a $748 million budget that sets aside money for ongoing modernization projects in the Port of Long Beach, community grants and improvements to the city’s beachfront.
The Long Beach City Council will get the final approval for the 2018 fiscal plan, which includes $457 million on capital projects such as the replacement of the Gerald Desmond Bridge and the redevelopment of Middle Harbor.
It also includes $18.7 million to the city’s Tidelands Operating Fund, which helps pay for the beachfront improvements, and $404,000 for the Port Community Grants Program, which funds health, environmental and other initiatives that support neighborhoods affected by operations at the port.
The budget accounts for an estimated 1.8 percent rise in operating revenue over 2017.
“This spending blueprint advances the nation’s largest seaport modernization program and our practice of investing revenue back into our harbor, a leading economic engine for this region, the state and the nation,” said Harbor Commission President Lori Ann Guzmán. “The budget reflects this Port’s fiscally prudent, results-driven approach to budgeting and capital improvements.”
The 2018 fiscal year begins on October 1.