ABOUT THE PORT:
The Port of Palm Beach District is an independent
special taxing district (an autonomous port), a sub-division of the state of Florida. It
was established under the provisions of the Laws of Florida, Acts of 1915, Chapter
7081, as amended and supplemented. The Port District is located in Palm Beach County,
Florida. It covers a land area of 971 square miles or approximately fifty percent of the
County area.
The District has statutory authority to levy
ad valorem millage tax but has not done so since Fiscal Year 1975. For FY'05, the Commissioners of
the Port of Palm Beach District have, for the thirtieth consecutive year, voted not to
levy any millage to the property owners of the Port District. Operating under Florida
Sunshine Laws, all monthly Board meetings are open to the public.
The Port District is governed by a
board
of five Commissioners elected at large by the voters
within the District. Its administration is through an Executive Director and professional
staff of 49 full time employees.
OPERATING SCOPE:
The Port of Palm Beach is
located
80 miles north of Miami and 135 miles south of Port Canaveral. Vessel entrance
is through an inlet channel 300 feet wide with no aerial obstructions leading
into Lake Worth. Berthing is a short 20 minutes from first seabuoy to
anchorage with operating drafts of minus 32 feet mean low water (MLW). The largest vessels
capable of through putting via the Port's "dog leg" channel are those up to 700
feet length overall. A swing (turning) basin measuring 1,100 feet by 1,400 feet provides a
safety margin for cruise and cargo vessels at minus 32 feet MLW draft (salt water).
The Port has
three slips, four marginal wharves and two ro/ro ramps for a total of 5,200 linear feet of berthing space.
The District is authorized to raise funds through
General Obligation Bonds. Income is derived through user fees such as wharfage, dockage,
leasing, permitting, equipment, labor, special services and sale of potable water. As a
landlord port, we maintain all piers, turning basins, docks, dredging, and improvements to
District owned properties.
All maritime services are performed through
privatized, licensed permit holders including agents, stevedores, warehousing and
chandlers. Pilot and tug services are also privately owned. The Port is authorized
to issue industrial development bonds for building specialized facilities on Port
property. These facilities must be marine related. They are subject to long term
commitments backed by sound credit standings of individual firms. Operated as an
enterprise fund, Port revenues can only be invested on Port owned properties and cannot be
diverted into non District owned lands.
EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE:
The Port of Palm Beach is the fourth busiest
container port in Florida and the eighteenth busiest in the continental U.S. In addition to intermodal capacity, the Port is a major nodal point for the
shipment of bulk sugar (domestic usages), molasses, cement, utility fuels,
water, produce and breakbulk items.
The Florida East Coast Railway Company (FEC)
services the docks and piers through the Port's industrial rail switching operations. We
are the only port facility in South Florida operating a rail system with pier-side box,
hopper and intermodal cars operating 24 hours a day. Located on Port property are six
miles of trackage for intermodal transfers and handling.
All essential federal agencies
with oversight for international trade and passenger flow are located in the Maritime
Office Complex (MOC).
A
Foreign Trade Zone
(FTZ
#135) has been in operations since 1987. It encompasses several Port and private
sector sites. There is one privately owned general purpose warehouse in Boca Raton, four
privately owned warehouse sites in Martin County (near Stewart International Airport),
the Port of Palm Beach Cold
storage terminal and one 18,000 sq. ft. warehouse with five adjacent unimproved acres by
the Port Executive Plaza (PEP).
