Huge Funding Increase Coming for US Ports

By: Mark Szakonyi | May 12, 2014

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will be required to send back to the ports all proceeds from the Harbor Maintenance Tax under soon-to-be-enacted legislation, eventually resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars per year in federal money flowing back to seaports.

An agreed-upon compromise for a new Water Resources Reform Development Act will require the federal government to spend all harbor maintenance taxes — a 0.125%  levy on imported containers — on dredging and jetty maintenance by fiscal 2025, sources told the JOC.

In addition, some ports will have the ability to use HMT funds, which normally total more than $100 per container, for non-dredging purposes, a goal they have sought for years.

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