ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996                 TAG: 9605300055
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-7  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NORFOLK 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

STATE'S PORTS REACH FINANCIAL GOAL TERMINALS TO BEGIN PAYING FOR OWN OPERATIONS

For 15 years, state taxpayers have paid for improvements at Virginia International Terminals Inc. On July 1, the state's port facilities will begin operating without state money.

``That's been the goal of this port since it was formed,'' Virginia Port Authority Chairman A. Russell Kirk said this week.

VIT operates the three marine terminals in the southeastern part of the state. Capital improvement projects paid for by the state have been credited with revitalizing the port and turning it into the second largest on the East Coast, behind New York.

``The ports are pretty much developed out now,'' VIT Chief Executive Joseph A. Dorto said. ``The capital projects that we had to do over the years are mostly complete.''

The company will need about $10 million annually to maintain the facilities, compared with an average of about $30 million in previous years, Dorto said. In the fiscal year ending June 30, VIT will have received about $13 million from the state's general fund.

The state consolidated operations of its port facilities in Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth under VIT's management in the early 1980s. At the time, the state agreed to pay for capital improvements ``until we got on our own feet,'' Dorto said.

The state's Transportation Trust Fund, set up about a decade ago to pay for port and road projects, and state revenue bonds backed by the fund will still pay for improvement projects, Dorto said. That includes the port's ongoing 15-year, $209 million expansion project.

VIT estimated its facilities will handle 8.05 million tons of cargo next year, up from an estimated 7.5 million tons in this fiscal year. That and a tariff increase scheduled for October are expected to boost VIT's revenue nearly 6 percent to $119.9 million. The rise in revenue is expected despite a 10.2 percent dip in cargo posted in April, the most recent figures available.

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