Oakland approves container tax, short on details

California's rush to impose local taxes on shipping containers took another step forward March 18, as the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners voted to enact fees passing through the city's port.

In approving the container tax mechanism, the seven-member board did not specify how much would be charged, who would ultimately pay the tax, or when it would be imposed. Port staff is expected to return recommendations on the details of the tax proposal by June.

The commissioners also put off for study a proposal that would eliminate independent owner-operators from the port's drayage fleet. Most drivers in the Oakland port are independent owner-operators.

The port plans to use the collected container tax money to pay for programs to reduce diesel particulate matter from port-generated sources.

Oakland, the third-busiest container port in the state and fourth in the nation, hopes to generate $520 million over the next several years for pollution reduction programs.

When enacted, the Oakland container tax would become the third port authority in the state to levy a tax on containers. The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles approved a $35-per-TEU tax last year to pay for a truck drayage overhaul plan. Southern California port officials also approved a second $15-per-TEU tax late last year to help pay for infrastructure projects in the ports jurisdiction.

California State Sen. Alan Lowenthal is also pursuing a $30-per-TEU container fee that would affect containers moving through Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland. Lowenthal's bill, tabled last year after the threat of a gubernatorial veto, reactivated the bill in the state legislature last month. 

Source: American Shipper