Portland Fish Pier Authority approves FY2027 Fish Exchange budget despite one dissent

Bridal, presenting the finance subcommittee’s findings, told the Portland Fish Pier Authority that the exchange’s FY2027 proposed budget assumes a projected catch of a little over 2,000,000 pounds of groundfish and roughly $1,200,000 in net revenue after cost of goods sold. "Total net income minus $158,000," Bridal said, summarizing the year’s expected shortfall.

The subcommittee unanimously recommended the budget to the full authority. At the full meeting, a member moved to approve the FY2027 Fish Exchange budget "as presented," and members took a roll-call vote. The motion passed, with a single dissenting vote from Tracy Pierce, who said she would not support the budget "as is" despite acknowledging it represented an improvement over last year.

The budget presentation identified operations expenses of about $690,000 and noted no major shifts in expenditure categories beyond an audit expense carried forward from the prior year. Staff and managers said they expected operations costs to be relatively steady and described the proposed budget as conservative to avoid risk if catch or prices fall.

Robert Vanmeter, the exchange manager, told members the exchange’s recent budgets have moved from larger losses in earlier years toward a smaller shortfall this year; he noted depreciation and reduced payroll expenses have helped improve the outlook. Meredith, who serves on finance subcommittees, commended Bridal and Vanmeter for assembling what she called "a very realistic budget."

The board’s approval sends the exchange budget forward as part of the City’s enterprise fund submissions and preserves the authority’s plan to support exchange operations while working toward longer-term improvements.

Next steps: the approved FY2027 exchange budget will be considered within the overall City budget process; the authority did not set additional conditions at the April meeting.