Portsmouth’s City Council said this week it opposes the Port of Virginia’s efforts to buy the terminal it leases and runs in the city.

But port officials say they don’t know what the city is talking about.

The Port of Virginia operates several terminals across the state, including Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth. The 300-acre property on the Elizabeth River is owned by a private company and the Port has a lease on it until 2065.

But Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover read a letter to lawmakers at this week’s city council meeting saying a sale was in the works and the city is against it.

Ports officials said this came out of left field for them.

“I don’t know the genesis of the resolution they were talking about,” said Joe Harris, a spokesman for the Port of Virginia. 

Harris said there are currently no plans in the works for a purchase. 

“There may have been a rumor or something.”

Portsmouth’s biggest, and apparently hypothetical, concern is that the private owner pays about $9 million annually in city taxes. The Port is a subdivision of the state, and doesn’t pay local taxes like a private company would.

“The loss of this revenue source would have a devastating impact on our city budget,” Glover said, reading from the letter to lawmakers.

Glover said the Port told officials it wants to come to terms with Portsmouth “to make the city whole from the overwhelming financial loss this acquisition will create.”

But Portsmouth’s City Council objects to the land deal until those terms are formally in place, and urges lawmakers to use their power to stop the deal if it moves forward.

The Port’s strategic planning documents, which outline future goals, do not include any mention of purchasing the Virginia International Gateway property. 

Harris said the Port expects to abide by the terms of the current lease until it runs out in 2065.

The last time Virginia International Gateway changed hands in 2014, an American investment firm and a U.K. pension fund joined forces to buy the property from the original owner for $450 million.

NOTE: WHRO’s Vice President of News Maurice Jones is a member of the Port of Virginia’s Board of Directors. Jones is not involved in coverage decisions related to the Port.

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