Charleston vs. Savannah: Financial Reality
FY2016–FY2025: operating cash, container volumes, lobbying activity, and the timing of state support TEUs in millions $000s where shown
Purpose.
This page documents a decade-long shift in the South Carolina Ports Authority’s operating model using primary-source disclosures:
audited financial statements, Ethics Commission lobbying reports, and reported container volumes.
The central question is simple: is recent investment being funded primarily through internal operating capacity, or through growing political and public support?
Volume Reality: Flat Growth in the Years That Matter
Chart. Annual container volumes (TEUs): Charleston vs. Savannah (FY2016–FY2025).
Over the past five years, Charleston’s container volumes have remained largely flat, fluctuating within a narrow band despite the opening of the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal and substantial public investment.
This period also includes the completion of the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project in 2022 — a $580 million infrastructure program to deepen the harbor to 52 feet, celebrated on December 5, 2022, and funded through a combination of state and federal contributions.
During this same time, SCPA expanded its lobbying footprint and began receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in recurring state support.
The lack of corresponding volume growth raises fundamental questions about utilization, return on investment, and the role of public funding in the current operating model.
Operating Cash: Internal Capacity to Self-Fund
“Operating cash” below refers to Net cash provided by operating activities from audited Statements of Cash Flows — a direct signal of internally generated capacity available for reinvestment.
Chart. Operating cash generated (10-year total): Charleston vs. Savannah.
Source: audited Statements of Cash Flows.
Why this matters.
Ports that can consistently generate strong operating cash can fund expansion internally and rely less on recurring public support.
When operating cash lags, the gap gets filled some other way — typically through debt, appropriations, grants, or political leverage.
A one-year snapshot makes the operating-cash point concrete: in FY 2025, Savannah and Charleston carried broadly comparable debt loads, but Savannah generated materially more cash from operations while Charleston also received substantial direct state support.
| FY 2025 snapshot | Georgia Ports Authority (Savannah) | South Carolina Ports Authority (Charleston) |
|---|---|---|
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $355,217 ($000s) | $125,420 ($000s) |
| Total debt (bonds payable) | $1,278,143 ($000s) | $986,110 ($000s) |
| Container volume | ~5.70 million TEUs | 2,566,764 TEUs |
| Direct state support | — | $260,100 ($000s) |
Taken together, the FY 2025 snapshot shows why “operating cash” matters: it is the internal capacity that determines whether expansion can be funded from operations, or whether the balance gets filled through other means.
GPA initiatives funded with internal capital (FY 2025 report highlights)
| Initiative | Funding mix (as described) |
|---|---|
| Brunswick Ro-Ro berth expansion | $85 million internal + $15 million federal |
| Ocean Terminal redevelopment (Savannah) | $840 million internal |
| New U.S. Customs & Border Protection facility (Garden City Terminal) | $45 million internal |
That self-funding capacity is the backdrop for the next section: when internal cash is insufficient, political activity and external funding tend to become more central.
Lobbying Activity: A Clear Inflection Point
Source: South Carolina State Ethics Commission lobbying disclosures (Principal: “Ports Authority, State”). Dollar figures below are total payments & expenditures by calendar year.
| Year | Registered Lobbyists | Total Lobbying Spend (calendar year) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | $110,313 |
| 2024 | 6 | $244,543 |
| 2023 | 7 | $220,188 |
| 2022 | 6 | $267,774 |
| 2021 | 6 | $183,418 |
| 2020 | 2 | $28,562 |
| 2019 | 1 | $26,434 |
| 2018 | 1 | $37,624 |
| 2017 | 1 | $48,213 |
| 2016 | 1 | $16,292 |
| 10-Year Total | — | $1,183,361 |
Interpretation.
From 2016 through 2020, SCPA maintained a minimal lobbying footprint (one to two lobbyists and modest annual spend).
Beginning in 2021, lobbying activity expanded sharply and remained elevated, with six to eight registered lobbyists annually and more than $1.0 million in lobbying expenditures over the last five years alone.
Direct State Support: When the Switch Flips
Scope and method.
The table below uses SCPA’s “State Support” line as presented in audited reporting.
FY2018 is separated as construction-era pass-through in the underlying reporting and is excluded from adjusted totals to avoid mixing one-time pass-through with recurring operating-era support signals.
| FY | Reported “State Support” ($000s) |
Less: Pass-through ($000s) |
Adjusted State Support ($000s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 260,100 | 0 | 260,100 |
| 2024 | 134,873 | 0 | 134,873 |
| 2023 | 87,258 | 0 | 87,258 |
| 2022 | 13,909 | 0 | 13,909 |
| 2021 | 406 | 0 | 406 |
| 2020 | 11,337 | 0 | 11,337 |
| 2019 | 4,494 | 0 | 4,494 |
| 2018 | 299,318 | 299,318 | 0 |
| 2017 | 2,046 | 0 | 2,046 |
| 2016 | 7,185 | 0 | 7,185 |
| Total | 820,926 | 299,318 | 521,608 |
Bottom line.
Excluding construction-era pass-through, adjusted direct state support totals approximately $521.6 million over FY2016–FY2025 —
with the overwhelming share arriving in the post-2022 period, during a time when Charleston’s TEU growth remained largely flat.
State of South Carolina Support to SCPA — What the Money Was For
Operating-era support, summarized from audited financial statements and accompanying notes.
| Fiscal Year | Adjusted State Support | What the State Money Paid For (plain English) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $260.1 million | Navy Base Intermodal Facility construction ($149.8M); $50M loan forgiveness for North Charleston terminal-adjacent property; $55M land acquisition; Port Access Road funding; Jasper Ocean Terminal planning; minor Commerce-related grants. |
| 2024 | $134.9 million | Continued NBIF construction funding; terminal and port-related capital support; project continuation and infrastructure costs. |
| 2023 | $87.3 million | Early-phase NBIF funding; harbor- and terminal-related infrastructure; intermodal and rail-preparation activities. |
| 2022 | $13.9 million | Initial rail-related and port infrastructure support associated with planned future expansion. |
These descriptions reflect how the funding is characterized in SCPA’s audited reporting and related disclosures, summarized for readability.
Governance Framing: Appropriations as “Performance”
“The Balance sheet has been significantly improved because of Barbara’s leadership with both the State and Federal Governments in obtaining various appropriations that have added up to more than $700 Million dollars. Money that would have had been placed on the Port’s balance sheet as debt!”
Source: SCPA CEO performance evaluation (LG-5).
What this page documents.
Taken together, these records show a clear pattern:
lobbying expands first (2021), recurring state support accelerates next (FY2022), and container volumes do not materially break out.
That combination warrants scrutiny before additional public commitments are made — especially when terminal utilization remains uneven across the portfolio.
Source documents
- SCPA audited financial reports. Investor Relations & Financial Reports
- GPA audited financial reports. Investor Relations
- South Carolina Ethics Commission. Lobbying Activity disclosures (Principal: “Ports Authority, State”).
- SCPA CEO evaluation (LG-5). Performance Evaluation
Notes: TEUs are shown in millions. “Operating cash” refers to “Net cash provided by operating activities” from audited Statements of Cash Flows.
Harbor deepening: $580M program to 52 feet, completion celebrated December 5, 2022; reimbursements may extend beyond completion depending on federal timing.