Port of Long Beach budget includes 15% spending increase

Port of Long Beach budget includes 15% spending increase    The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday approved a $474 million budget that focuses on environmental stewardship, security and community partnerships.
   The proposed budget for the 2006-07 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, increases spending by $63 million, or 15 percent, from the current budget. Port environmental programs will receive about $90 million of the budget, while $35 million will be allocated to enhance security. An additional $20 million is set aside for clean-truck replacement programs, part of a $181 million, five-year commitment by the port.
   Operating revenues, mostly from the port's terminal leases, are expected to increase by 5 percent over the previous fiscal year, to $375.3 million, primarily because of increases in container cargo trade. Operating expenditures for 2007 are expected to increase by 39 percent to $269.7 million. The capital project budget is $205 million, a 6 percent decrease from last year.
   In other Port of Long Beach news, harbor commissioners decided Monday to extend by a month the public review period for a sweeping joint clean air action plan between the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The plan includes hundreds of millions of dollars to clean sources of diesel emissions in the ports. The new deadline is Aug. 28.