On Wednesday December 10, 2014, the Port Authority Board of Commissioners adopted a fiscally responsible $2.9 billion Operating Budget and a $3.6 billion Capital Budget that funds critical infrastructure at the agency’s port facilities, airports, tunnels, bridges, PATH system, and World Trade Center site.

Combined, the agency’s budget for 2015 totals $7.8 billion, which includes debt service.

The overall Capital Budget will support 7,320 direct job-years and direct payroll wages of $674.7 million. Including indirect and induced effects, the total economic activity impact amounts to 16,730 total job-years, $1.1 billion in wages, and $4.7 billion in economic activity.

Some additional noteworthy points:

The $2.9 billion Operating Budget continues to hold expense growth for ongoing agency operations to 1.8 percent – at or below the rate of inflation for the 9th consecutive year. While reflecting the agency’s continued fiscal discipline, the Operating Budget allows for increased investments in several critical areas including facility maintenance and initiatives to enhance the competitiveness of the agency’s facilities.

The $3.6 billion Capital Budget will help build and maintain critical infrastructure at the Port Authority’s airports, tunnels, bridges, terminals, ports, PATH system and move toward completion of the World Trade Center site.

Of the total Capital Budget, port proximate investments include:

• $153 million is earmarked specifically for state-of-good-repair projects at the Port of New York and New Jersey and the redevelopment of the Greenville Yard site in Jersey City.
• $271 million for continued construction of the Bayonne Bridge “Raise the Roadway” project.
• $35 million of Port Authority funded work as part of the ongoing $1.5 billion public-private partnership for construction of a new Goethals Bridge.
• $28 million to build a new ExpressRail system at Greenville Yard in Jersey City that allows cargo to be moved by rail.