Cities Win $7-Million Reimbursement From Port

San Diego and four other municipalities that have been pressing the San Diego Unified Port District to reimburse them for police and fire services won a $7-million partial victory Tuesday.

When negotiations began several months ago, the five cities in the Port District--San Diego, National City, Coronado, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach--had hoped to receive $40 million for services to be provided during the upcoming fiscal year as well as for services provided during past years.

However, the Board of Port Commissioners on Tuesday rejected the municipalities’ request for retroactive payments, and instead gave conceptual approval of a $7-million payment covering only those services to be provided during the coming fiscal year that begins July 1.

The Port District staff won’t complete the final payment formula, which is based upon tax receipts, total acreage and other factors, until late next month.

But preliminary estimates made by city officials suggest that San Diego will receive about $5 million of the $7 million total. Chula Vista will receive about $500,000, National City $388,000 and Coronado $170,000. Imperial Beach’s share of the proposed payment was uncertain Tuesday.

The agreement hammered out during Tuesday’s meeting was “fair, just and equitable,” according to Chula Vista Mayor Greg Cox, who represented the five municipalities during Tuesday’s Port District board meeting. “It isn’t, however, everything that we had hoped for.”

The Port District’s decision to forgo payment for past services was “most unfortunate,” said San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who was hoping to snare a larger payment that would help the cash-starved city remedy a $40-million city budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.

Earlier this month, San Diego officials indicated that the city was hoping to receive about $13 million for past and future services on Port District lands.

The five cash-strapped cities will receive funds generated by the Port District’s various holdings, which include Lindbergh Field, Shelter Island, Seaport Village and Harbor Island. The five municipalities provide police, fire and other municipal services for those and other port-owned properties.