Stephanie Nall, Cool Cargoes Editor | Jun 27, 2012 4:19PM EDT
Stockton is poised to become the largest U.S. city ever to declare bankruptcy, but the city’s legal filing will have no effect on operations or financing at the Port of Stockton.
“The Port District is separate from city government,” port spokesman Bill Lewicki said. “Stockton City Council does appoint several commissioners and the county council appoints several. There are no ramifications budget-wise, except for all the bad publicity.”
The Port of Stockton has been operating since 1848 and has been chartered by the state since 1933. Unlike some other public ports in California, under the charter no other government entity can tap it for revenue.
“Under our state charter, we could actually assess taxes on both residents and businesses located in our port district, but we have never had to exercise that right,” Lewicki said. “The Port of Stockton has always been self-sustaining.”
The river port is experiencing growth: a new container on barge service between Stockton and the Port of Oakland is scheduled to begin operation during the last half of July.
Contact Stephanie Nall at stephnalljoc@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @stephnall and @coolcargoes.
