As expected, the Port of Vancouver on Tuesday slashed its total budget by 18 percent, an unusual move triggered largely by the failure of a new freight-hauling venture to live up to revenue expectations.
Commissioners Nancy Baker, Jerry Oliver and Brian Wolfe voted unanimously to adopt the 2015 supplemental budget of $80.72 million. That compares with the $98.79 million budget they approved in November 2014.
The lion’s share of the decrease came by way of taking off the books $15.29 million in revenue anticipated to come from the port’s “dedicated rail service” program. Under that program, the port sought to lease rail cars to haul oil-drilling materials to North Dakota; those cars would then return to Vancouver loaded with Midwestern crops for eventual export overseas.