Please. Please. Please.
Stop talking about "profits". There are no profits. As is usual, all four business operations show a LOSS; see the chart in the article.
And please do not talk about "profits before depreciation" because it is irrelevant; depreciation is an expense.
Port officials have tried for years to conceal their losses by ignoring overhead and depreciation, but those are expenses and the bottom line is RED.
Thar's without considering the opportunity costs of the port's net assets.
Those losses are covered by our public assets of one kind or another. In other words, this is a "reverse Robin Hood" operation, taxing all of us to provide services almost exclusively to people better off than most of us -- boat owners, airplane owners, large shippers, and renters of major real estate.
Let us hope the new Port Commission will improve on this situation.
Bob Jacobs
ps The operating revenue numbers look high. I wonder if the chart is showing tax income and operating revenue. That is another trick that has been used by ports to hide losses. And it is not allowed by accounting regulations.
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