Parts of the North Carolina House of Representatives’ budget proposal for state government were rolled out on Thursday, and early indications are it may not include adding tolls to the state’s free ferry routes or increasing current fares.
The state Senate has already approved a spending plan that doubles the rates on the Ocracoke-Swan Quarter and Cedar Island routes and Ocracoke Express passenger ferry, while adding tolls to the Hatteras-Ocracoke, Currituck-Knotts Island, and two other routes.
There has been considerable pushback from Outer Banks and inland legislators to the Senate budget’s ferry toll proposal, and it has drawn vocal opposition from local government leaders and business owners who have passed resolutions and written letters to state lawmakers.
The House Appropriations Transportation Committee met Thursday, where they reviewed provisions that included three ferry-related matters.
The only mention of tolls in the Proposed Special Provisions document is to make modifications to how collected tolls are set aside in a fund to cover the cost of new vessels.
Rather than designating that tolls collected in a NCDOT geographic division stay in that division, the funds could be used for a vessel that would be replaced on any route.
Another provision calls for $1.5 million previously allocated by the legislature for the rebuilding of stacking lanes and a concrete barrier to be shifted to the rehabilitation of the loading ramps at South Dock on Hatteras Inlet at the north end of Ocracoke Island
The third ferry provision requires a report to a joint legislative committee on the use of funds appropriated to marine vessel dry docking services at the state shipyard in Manns Harbor.
Two members of the state House from northeastern North Carolina have stated they are against the Senate’s tolling plan.
“To the best of my knowledge, the Senate put ferry tolls in the budget and that’s the only place I’m aware of them,” said Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort), who represents part of Dare County including Hatteras Island.
“I have been working diligently to have them excised from the House budget,” said Kidwell, who is co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
His panel is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning prior to the House Appropriations Committee, and the full budget proposal is expected to be rolled out that same day ahead of likely-votes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Rep. Edward Goodwin (R-Chowan), who also represents northern Dare County and is a former director of the Ferry Division, did not respond to an email requesting for comment as of Sunday.
A Charlotte-area legislator, Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston) went to social media to share his opposition to the Senate’s ferry tolling plan after it was announced.
“This will cost all North Carolinians who have to use the ferries to go to school, work, doctor, pretty much anywhere,” Torbett posted on Twitter.
Torbett said the tolls would not generate much revenue, and that regular funding sources are enough to cover the costs of running the ferry system.
“The answer is simply to prioritize the need to include ferries or perhaps toll all bridges throughout NC for fairness. I do not support tolls,” Torbett said.
Torbett is vice-chair of the House Appropriations Committee
Last month, the state Senate approved a $32.6 billion state budget for the next two fiscal years.
Under the 439-page Senate Bill 257, the new toll schedule would be as follows:
- Currituck-Knotts Island, $3 vehicles under 20 feet, $6 vehicles over 20 feet, $1 passengers.
- Hatteras-Ocracoke: $20 for vehicles under 20 feet long, $40 for vehicles over 20 feet, and $1 for passengers not traveling in a vehicle.
- Ocracoke-Swan Quarter and Cedar Island: $30 vehicles under 20 feet, $60 vehicles over 20 feet, $2 passengers.
- Ocracoke Express: $15 per person.
The current rates of the Swan Quarter and Cedar Island routes is $15 for vehicles under 20 feet, $30 for vehicles 20 to 40 feet long, $45 for vehicles longer than 40 feet, and $1 per passenger.
Other rates are charged for motorcycles and bicyclists, but those categories were not detailed in the Senate budget proposal.
Rates on the Ocracoke Express, which runs seasonally between mid-May and early September, are $7.50 per passenger and $1 per bicycle. The Senate bill does not mention bicycles on the passenger-only route between Hatteras Harbor and Silver Lake.
Tolls would also be added on the Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach over the Neuse River and Bayview-Aurora over the Pamlico River at the same rate as Currituck-Knotts Island, while increasing on the Fort Fisher-Southport route.
The Senate budget also creates an annual pass for commuters and priority boarding of commercial vehicles that would allow unlimited rides at a cost of $150 per vehicle, per year.
According to the fiscal document attached to the budget bill, the tolls would raise $6.4 million in each of the next two fiscal years that would be allocated to the Ferry Capital Fund for vessel replacements.
“The estimated fiscal impact of establishing tolls on previously untolled routes and increasing existing toll rates is based on the bill’s toll rates and ridership data from the Ferry Division’s monthly traffic report,” the fiscal note states.
Senate Transportation Appropriations Co-Chair Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Iredell) told The News & Observer the highway department faces numerous funding challenges that have led to delays of projects statewide, while also rebuilding roads and bridges in the Western North Carolina washed away by Hurricane Helene.
She also called it an issue of “fairness”, referencing tolls charged to drive from her district to Uptown Charlotte on Interstate 77 that can run as much as $25 one way during peak traffic periods.
Another backer of previous ferry tolling attempts has been Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick), whose district includes the Cape Fear River route between Fort Fisher and Southport that already carries a toll, and is also a co-chair of the Senate Transportation Appropriations committee.
Sen. Bobby Hanig (R-Currituck), along with other coastal and inland lawmakers, have in the past been able to convince colleagues and leadership in both chambers to back off attempts to add tolls.
“We have a long history of connecting our rural citizens to areas of commerce, employment, schools and our pristine beaches, they become part of our heritage,” Hanig said during floor debate on an amendment he ran last month to strip the toll provisions from the Senate budget.
“Now there are folks in this body that think it’s okay to start charging a toll so these hard working, salt-of-the-earth North Carolinians can efficiently get to work, school, have access to shopping or simply enjoy all of our beautiful beaches, our ferries are extension of our highways, and should not be tolled with that,” Hanig said.
Hanig’s amendment to remove the tolling provisions failed on a 24-23 vote, and later was the only Republican to cast votes against passing the full budget, which he called “a risk” he was willing to take to block the ferry tolls.
Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, submitted a budget proposal to lawmakers that did not include any changes to ferry tolls.
The GOP has the majority in both chambers of the legislature, with the Senate having veto-proof control by the Republican Party.
The North Carolina Ferry Division is the second largest state-run operation in the country, behind only Washington state, transporting an average of 712,282 vehicles and 2.4 million passengers over the last two fiscal years. Operations and maintenance costs totaled $65.3 million.
Hatteras-Ocracoke is the most popular route in the state, averaging 202,628 vehicles and 935,307 passengers, at a cost of nearly $25.55 million over the two year period.
During the same period, Currituck-Knotts Island route transported 15,605 vehicles and 92,148 passengers, costing just under $2.32 million.
The Swan Quarter route averaged 37,354 vehicles and 57,871 passengers at a cost of $6.92 million.
The Cedar Island route carried an average of 42,209 vehicles and 94,784 passengers for $9.23 million.
On the Ocracoke Express, the number of passengers averaged 18,881, with operations and maintenance costing $1.34 million.
Several other attempts have been made and shot down in the General Assembly to add tolls over the last 14 years.
In 2011, the same year Republicans gained control of both chambers from Democrats, their first budget added tolls to all routes.
But those tolls were rescinded prior to implementation due to local opposition, with General Assembly members even considering eliminating tolls altogether at one point.
The most recent toll attempt was in 2023, when a proposal was removed from the final version of a spending plan that was eventually vetoed by former Gov. Roy Cooper (D).
The House is expected to approve a different version of the budget that covers the next two fiscal years, and has given no formal consideration to the Senate’s version. That means the two chambers will form a conference committee to work out the differences in their separate bills, and there is no set timetable for that to happen. If a new budget is not approved by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, state government agencies continue to operate based on the recurring funding that was appropriated in the last biennium.
