The Concept of the public port and ports as public enterprises (needing to make ends meet) is accepted as viable in the U.S.. The U.S. Federal Government does not really interfere with port operations and management yet public ports are what prevail at lower governmental levels. Leasing waterfront land/terminals/quays to private sector for exclusive use is a good way of letting the market speak, especially in the case of large ports. The “landlord ports” are common in USA and the contracts (leases) between public port and private carriers and/or terminals operators are now very sophisticated and negotiated to mutual benefit of both parties.32
Financial support for ports and terminals
In Japan, construction is generally paid for by public subsidies.33 The funding comes in three types:
1. Subsidies for piers, berths, roads, and green areas.
2. Issuance of city bonds for docks, cranes, facilities, stevedore equipment.
3. Tax to support independent activities related to maintenance costs.34
Construction is funded by national/city/private share construction. Port authorities obtain financial support: 1) at the phase of implementing project research such as joint research and supporting research. 2) at the phase of implementing port and harbor planning research such as environmental assessment. 3) at the implementation stages of the project research and design fees and construction fees are funded. An evaluation of the project is made at annual budget proposal time.35
The financing and revenue streams for each of the various container terminal models, the Public system, the PTPC, the JSC, and the “New system” are described earlier in this section on “Institutions” page 6 & 7. Japan's governments both central and local are becoming more open and more democratic with reform. This results in more transparency which is important for container terminal financing, construction, and leasing.36
In the U.S., the majority of a Port's revenue is obtained from operations and leasing of its facilities. All of the port's operations are supported by revenues from those operations. In the case of Seattle,annual revenues from the Port's marine operations are about $100 million. The Port also levies about $35 million in taxes exclusively for capital investment and is not used to support the operations of the organization. Historically, the Port of Seattle has received very little Federal support in terms of revenue or financing. Over the last 10 years less than $5 million has been received from the federal government towards Port or Port related capital projects. (This compares with about $800 million in Port investment over the same period.)37 In general, U.S. public ports usually are given financing capability via bond issues, etc. to provide construction and facilities for terminal expansion.38
Government's involvement in port planning
In Japan, port planning is based on law. The national government prepares guidelines for all ports. The PMB works with local government and presents their planning to the national government for review. The local District Port Construction Bureau checks plans, proposals, research, land needs, construction, safety, design, implementation, and technical development.39 The allocation of the budget is also influenced by the level of importance of each port, which means that more budget is allocated to gateway ports.40
