Laserfiche WebLink
July 10, 2012 <br />WHEREAS Portsmouth has supported the Port of Virginia and the maritime <br />economy in numerous important ways over the years, including designing Route 164 to <br />accommodate rail service, clearing the Port Authority's title to ownership of Portsmouth <br />Marine Terminal, providing funds to construct the Pinners Point Connector, obtaining <br />federal funding for the Route 164 rail corridor, clearing title for the rail corridor, and <br />helping to plan the Craney Island transportation corridor, and <br />WHEREAS, for the past several years, APM Terminals ("APM") has operated a <br />state-of-the-art maritime terminal in Portsmouth, and the terminal has met or exceeded <br />every operational, efficiency and environmental goal, and APM has been a model <br />corporate citizen in Portsmouth and has contributed in numerous ways to improving the <br />quality of life for Portsmouth citizens, and <br />WHEREAS, APM has submitted to the Virginia Secretary of Transportation an <br />unsolicited proposal under the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act to lease and <br />operate the Port of Virginia, and <br />WHEREAS, APM Terminals is part of the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group corporate <br />family ("Maersk"), and Maersk, a Danish company, is the largest and most successful <br />shipping company in the world, and <br />WHEREAS, having a Maersk company operate the Port of Virginia is likely to <br />cause very substantial growth in ship visits here, with vast potential economic benefit for <br />the state and for Hampton Roads, possibly causing the Port of Virginia to become the <br />largest port on the East Coast, and <br />WHEREAS, the APM proposal would entail making certain cash and property <br />payments by APM to the state in exchange for being able to operate the Port of Virginia <br />for a term of forty-eight years, and <br />WHEREAS, the property payment would be to transfer ownership of the APM <br />Portsmouth Terminal to the Virginia Port Authority at the beginning of the lease, and <br />WHEREAS, the APM Portsmouth Terminal presently generates real property <br />taxes in excess of $4,000,000 per year to Portsmouth because it is privately owned, and <br />transfer of ownership from APM to the Virginia Port Authority at the beginning of the <br />lease would make the property tax exempt as of that date, and <br />WHEREAS, Portsmouth already has the highest real estate tax rate in the <br />Hampton Roads region, primarily because almost half the real estate in the city, by <br />assessed value, is tax exempt, primarily due to ownership by either the federal <br />government or the state government, and <br />WHEREAS, the loss of real estate tax revenue from the APM Terminal would <br />have a devastating effect on Portsmouth's real estate tax rate, its ability to pay for <br />essential city services such as police, fire, and public education, its bond rating, its <br />businesses, and the quality of life for working Portsmouth families, and <br />WHEREAS, the Portsmouth Marine Terminal currently pays little or no taxes to <br />Portsmouth, and <br />WHEREAS, it is presently contemplated that the APM lease be signed by the <br />Secretary of Transportation alone after a relatively brief review period, and <br />WHEREAS, extreme care and thorough study should be used before making any <br />major decision about the future of the Port of Virginia, <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of <br />Portsmouth, Virginia: <br />1. That the Secretary of Transportation and the Virginia Port Authority, each <br />exercising their respective independent powers and duties, are respectfully requested: <br />