Port Canaveral set sail on its new fiscal year Tuesday with a record-setting $210.92 million operating budget, which is about $23 million more than last fiscal year’s adopted budget.
Port commissioners approved the proposal last week in a 4-1 vote. The approval continued a streak of record-high budgets following recovery and booms in the cruise industry post COVID-19. The fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2024 and will end Sept. 30, 2025.
About $175 million of the new fiscal year’s projected revenue will come from the cruise industry. This follows another record set by the port this fiscal year – 7 million multi-day passengers passed through the port by the end of August.
The lone vote against the budget plan was Commissioner Fritz VanVolkenburgh. He opposed the handling of the port’s bonus plan and match on an employee deferred compensation plan, with a preference for flat rates instead of compensation based on a percentage of employee salary.
Commissioner Kevin Markey said that when handling an increase in budget and port activity, it is important to keep services manageable for workers.
“Something on my mind is making sure we’re happy and our partners are happy,” he said.
The port is expected to add 27 workers in the next year to keep up with increasing labor demands and port activity mainly derived from the cruise industry. At least seven cruise ships will be added to Port Canaveral’s slate this fiscal year.
