Hatteras ferry tolls are back in pending budget

Sam Walker | June 12, 2012

Legislation does not specify the amount. (NCDOT)

State Senate leaders rolled out their version Monday of a budget for fiscal year 2013 that spends less than the plan approved last week by the House and would also require tolls on the ferry routes over Hatteras Inlet and the Currituck Sound.

The $20.1 billion Senate package is around $127 million less than the House version.

But the Senate bill would implement immediately toll increases on the Ocracoke-mainland routes, and add tolls on all currently free routes. The House version delays the toll plan for a year.

“The Senate’s version of the state budget demonstrates a lack of understanding of the urgent needs of coastal citizens,” said an email from Henri and Joe McClees, who were hired by Hyde, Beaufort and Pamlico counties to lobby against the ferry tolls.

“This is a continuation of our fight to protect coastal citizens,” the McClees’ email stated. “We cannot become complacent during these last weeks of the legislature.”

“The NC House and Governor agree with us, but the Senate has not seen the light,” said the McClees’.

The budget approved by the Legislature last year exempted the Hatteras and Currituck ferry routes from being tolled.

While not specifying toll rates, the legislation directs the state Board of Transportation to establish them. The Senate bill also says that an executive order freezing any new or increased rates is unconstitutional.

The bill cited an opinion from the Department of Justice saying “a direct conflict between a law enacted by the General Assembly and an executive order issued by the Governor must be resolved through implementation of the law,”

It goes on to say that “the General Assembly, therefore, hereby declares Executive Order No. 116 an unconstitutional attempt to exercise authority that the Governor does not possess and, as such, the Department of Transportation shall disregard Executive Order No. 116 and shall collect the tolls required by S.L. 2011-145 and this section.”

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See what people are saying:

BOHICA says:

EZPass will take you to the front of the line. You knew this was coming, right?

What’s next? How about tolls on the Wright causeway, Alligator River and Oregon Inlet.

on June 12, 2012 @ 1:09 pm

Kevin Gray Conner says:

With all due respect to those in Raleigh, what are you thinking?

Are you working along with the Southern Environmental Law Center, Audubon Society and Defenders of Wildlife to throw our local economy in front of the bus? It certainly appears that you don’t have the economic interest of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands in mind.

Tolls are nothing more than another name for taxes and adding additional expense to someone’s vacation may make the difference between coming to the Outer Banks or staying home! These ferries are a vitally important component of the transportation infrastructure on the Outer Banks and taxing it will only add to the economic instability that exist on Hatteras and Ocracoke!

on June 12, 2012 @ 1:18 pm

Sue says:

It’s just a matter of time until the free ferries are no longer free. With each passing law, it seems that tourism is being restricted so that eventually, only a specific class of people will be able to vacation on the Outer Banks.

In other words, the people with the most money will have the right of passage. This is supported by the legislature’s recent denial of scientific evidence which might thwart further real estate development.

In the end, the rich will have whatever services they need at their disposal, so how would an increase in ferry tolls affect them? It wouldn’t, because a yacht or plane can just as easily travel from one location to another. Little junk tourist shops, major revenue for residents now, will become a thing of the past. Fine restaurants will probably do OK, however.

I am so pleased to have known Hatteras Island forty years ago. What a wonderful place it was to be with such wonderful people. I just feel so sorry for the people living there now, if they have an idea of what’s to come.

on June 12, 2012 @ 2:18 pm

BOHICA says:

Sue, those aren’t Rich People. That’s a derogatory class-warfare term for Job Creators (the sound of angels singing).

If the local municipalities and NPS need more revenue, they can always resort to the New Jersey style beach tags. That would about complete the deal.

on June 12, 2012 @ 4:18 pm

Sue says:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2118

Yes, it is sad/funny to think that people can legislate storms. If you believe this is true, then why pay any attention to any weather forecast models?

The next hurricane these doctors and scientists predict, please don’t be bothered. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn’t pay any attention at all. The politicians know best and have your best interests at heart. Follow what they say. After all, historical trends say politicians are right more than 50% of the time.^o)

on June 12, 2012 @ 4:24 pm

Tammie says:

Well, no more trips to Ocracoke when we visit the Outer Banks. We already get robbed as tourists by the Chesapeake Expressway (I know that’s Virginia’s fault not North Carolina’s), there are less and less affordable cottages to accomadate our group thanks to all the fancy high price ones taking the place of the older ones. We can’t walk to the point and now we have to pay after we sit for hours to go on the ferry. We are visiting Atlantic Beach this year and planned to return to Nags Head next year but the way things are going we may not.

on June 12, 2012 @ 6:52 pm

Frank Sciacchitano says:

Comming attractions at the Outer Banks – the first ever tax on salt air! This county is killing the Goose who lays the golden eggs. E-mail your reps and tell them “NO”. What are they thinking. Peace

on June 12, 2012 @ 7:11 pm

one more local says:

We gave the reserve to the park service- let’s ask for it back.

on June 13, 2012 @ 2:16 am

Wesley says:

For those who don’t like the high tolls of the Chesapeake Expressway – keep in mind there is a very easy route around the toll road. Doesn’t take much longer at all to go that route. The main advantage of the big 4-lane toll road is the capacity to handle huge amounts of traffic on Saturdays when boatloads of tourists are passing through.

on June 13, 2012 @ 9:04 am

K. says:

Remember all of this when you go to the polls in November. MAKE SURE YOU GO VOTE! For a political party that is so bent on not raising taxes, they sure found words (ie. fees) to get in our pockets.

on June 13, 2012 @ 1:10 pm

Rob says:

Yes!
NC beach tags!
Only $100 Memorial to Labor Day
and…
No pets,food,ball playing,Frisbees,kites also!
and drive on the beach??? No way!!!

Why should we in NJ be the only ones to suffer?
Ps.
and the beach tags are only good in the town you bought them in!

Now that’s progress !!!

on June 13, 2012 @ 2:44 pm

junkman says:

What do the people on Ocracoke think ? Maybe they’ll like having fewer tourists on the island and paying a toll just to get home. I’m sure none of the politicians asked them.

Maybe we can get Walter Jones to sponsor a bill to eliminate the tolls since he’s suddenly interested in the area’s economy.

on June 13, 2012 @ 4:18 pm

Mulley says:

I took my daughter to the Outer Banks for the first time in 1975. I am so glad to have been lucky enough to make at least one visit a year since then. We camped when my daughter was young, had an old CJ5 and visited monthly in the early years from March to November and have even spent New Years on the banks. We already have a rental house for us, my daughter and her two kids in October 2012. We were discussing today if we would pay the $50 ORV fee or not. One of the highlights of our week is a day trip or two to Ocracoke. The way things are going we may not be making that trip and as retirees without a lot of money may rethink coming back next year. We already keep to the grocery stores, carry out markets and less expensive restuarants for our dining. Things seem to be getting out of hand and we may look elsewhere next year.

on June 13, 2012 @ 9:55 pm

Lida says:

The Outer Banks are very fragile. Where I live ,Ocracoke Island, we are completely dependent on tourists for our existence. If visitors are charged to come here they will choose other places to visit. Many local people barely survive from year to year. We have to leave the island to go to the doctor and dentist and to do major shopping. If there is a fee to leave the island we are in real trouble. This will not help the economy. This could ultimately shut down Ocracoke. This would effect negatively the entire Outer Banks. Please reconsider passing this bill. Thank you.

on June 15, 2012 @ 10:07 am

Kathy says:

there are 20 of us who have been coming to Hatteras Island every year for 25 years, some even longer, renting a number of houses at a time. Our experience last fall was so BAD, with having to take 2 ferries (turning it into a 2 day trip instead of 1 day), and a 5 hour backup trying to leave the Island on a Saturday when all of us had ferry reservations to get back to the mainland already left a bitter taste. Many missed their Okracoke Ferry and were stranded for several days. The powers that be should never have approved opening the Island to tourists so soon, few restaurants were open, there were not enough house cleaners, and the piles of trash were overwhelming, including the giant dump north of Avon. And they are now going to charge for the Okracoke Ferry, definitely one of our favorite parts of our trip. Also, the state has voted to ban same sex marriage, which unfortunately does not make any of us want to spend our money in NC. I too am glad we got to enjoy Hatteras when it was good, because i doubt we will be coming back.

on June 18, 2012 @ 4:53 pm

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