the film
forum
library
tutorial
contact
Economic and dam related articles

Audit Shows Lewiston Port had
Difficult Times in Fiscal Year 2013

by Elaine Williams
Lewiston Tribune, November 14, 2013

Port saw sharp decline in revenue from megaloads and drop in container traffic

Barges per item: pulse, plastic, paper, metal scrap, machinery, lumber, grain, garnet sand, Diatomaceous earth, bentoninte clay (Port of Lewiston 2007-09).

The Port of Lewiston lost $92,435 on its day-to-day operations in fiscal year 2013.

That's a significant decline from 2012, when the port made $280,509, according to an audit port commissioners reviewed Wednesday.

The figures include revenue from rent of port-owned properties and its container operations, which have historically funded routine port functions, but exclude money the port received from property taxes and land sales.

The audit, done by Presnell Gage accountants in Lewiston, underlines the important role of megaloads in the port's finances. The oversized loads made $537,075 for the port in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012, and nothing in the most recent fiscal year.

Another chief difference from year to year was depreciation and amortization, which was $355,708 in fiscal year 2013, about $41,000 more than fiscal year 2012.

Overall, the port still finished fiscal year 2013 strong. That was largely because of $465,135 in property-tax revenue and the sale of 7 acres of port land for about $730,000 to build a new FedEx Ground package distribution center.

The coming months could prove even more challenging. Shipping company Hanjin has announced it will stop calling on the Port of Portland in January, something that might cost the Port of Lewiston 15 percent of its container business. Hanjin handles about 80 percent of the containers that move through the Port of Portland, where most of the Port of Lewiston's cargo goes before heading overseas.

Hanjin's announcement comes as the Port of Lewiston finishes a $2.9 million expansion of its container dock, more than doubling its length. Container volume had already dropped from a high of more than 15,000 containers in 1995 through 2000, to 4,676 last year. How the port will address those challenges hasn't yet been decided.

Port Manager David Doeringsfeld asked the commissioners to start thinking about adding a third office employee for the next fiscal year, which starts in July. The hire would free some of his time so he could travel and pursue new port customers.

Port Commissioner Mike Thomason suggested the port look at a variety of options. Among them might be contracting a firm to market the port and making any pay dependent upon how successful the firm is in generating new port business.

In other business:


Elaine Williams
Audit Shows Lewiston Port had Difficult Times in Fiscal Year 2013
Lewiston Tribune, November 14, 2013

See what you can learn

learn more on topics covered in the film
see the video
read the script
learn the songs
discussion forum
salmon animation