Two Updates on the ferry tax for Beaufort, Hyde, & Pamlico Counties | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: We will continue to bring our readership the expressed work by Beaufort County's legislative lobbyists seeking to roll back the Ferry Toll increases here in our county.

    First update:

    Your calls and emails are helping! Joe and Henri are in Raleigh this week, and legislators are aware of the "ferry toll problem". However, they regard the ferry tax as a minor problem. With your help, we must pressure NC Senators and NC Representatives to make the ferry tax.

    On all emails, please use the subject line: NO FERRY TAX

    Write, email, and call the NC Speaker of the House Thom Tillis and President Pro Tem Phil Berger. Our message is simple: NO FERRY TAX! Bombard them with calls and emails. Alert them to the urgent nature of this coastal problem. The proposed tolls present a financial crisis for us. These leaders count how many calls and emails they receive on any important issue. They must hear from numerous citizens from Beaufort, Hyde, and Pamlico Counties. Please call, email, and encourage your friends and neighbors to call and email. Include your name, physical address, and our direct message: NO FERRY TAX.

    NC Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, (919) 733-3451; thom.tillis@ncleg.net

    NC Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, (919) 733-5708; phil.berger@ncleg.net
Address: 16 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601

    Write, email, and call members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, which meets on Thursday, 3/8/2012: http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee
tee&sActionDetails=House+Standing_13> &sActionDetails=House+Standing_13

    Write, email, and call members of the Senate Transportation Committee:

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee &sActionDetails=SenateStanding_76

    Write, email, and call members of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Transportation (has both Senators and Representatives) which meets on Friday, 3/9/12: http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee &sActionDetails=Non-Standing_468

    Senator Kathy Harrington is a new co-chairman of the Jt. Leg. Oversight Committee on Transportation, and Kathy will chair this Committee on Friday. It will be easier for Joe and Henri to speak with Senator Harrington if she has received numerous calls and emails from you.

    Thank you so much for your work! Keep it up! More later, Henri & Joe
Beaufort County Ferry landing crossing the Pamlico River at Gaylords Bay: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage

    Second update:

    We are making progress! Do not be discouraged at cold-hearted email replies sent by certain legislative assistants. Your calls and emails are having a strong impact in Raleigh. Senators and Representatives are acutely aware of the ferry tax issue. We spent this week in Raleigh, visiting Senate and House leaders and many other legislators who were in Raleigh for committee work. Everyone we visited this week knew about the hundreds of emails coming into the Legislature about the ferry tax. On Friday, March 9th, the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee met. The ferry tax was not discussed. As Joe McClees said, they talked about "everything but" ferry tolls. However, because of your calls and emails, they know the issue will not disappear. Some committee members were happy to talk to us about the issue. Other members wanted to avoid the issue. It is very important to apply pressure continually while we urge them to give us a fair and proper opportunity to be heard in Raleigh. We will not slow down. Keep up the pressure with our consistent message: NO FERRY TAX. Call and email, using the information found at the following link for the Joint Leg.

Transportation Oversight Cttee: ttp://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=View Committee &sActionDetails=Non-Standing_468

    Please continue to c nsportation, using the following link:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee &sActionDetails=House+Standing_13

    This week, US Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (NC) filed a bill in Congress to stop a proposed toll on I-95 in North Carolina. She called the proposed highway toll a "tax", and so it is. Many people agree with the inequity of the proposed ferry taxes, which would inflict further hardship on a region battered by the economic downturn as well as Hurricane Irene. Cong. Ellmers made the news today, but we will make bring the news again on 3/19/12 at Pamlico Community College, 5049 Hwy. 306 South, Grantsboro, NC 28529.

    The NC Dept. of Transportation (DOT) announced a Public Meeting on the increased tolls, to be held in Pamlico County on Monday, March 19, 2012 at 7:00 pm in the Delamar Auditorium, Pamlico Community College. For the Public Hearing Notice and related information, click on:
http://www.ncdot.gov/about/regulations/rules/ProposedRules1.html.

    Please take time to go online and comment on the proposed rules. Your comments are counted, and made part of the official record. We need hundreds of comments against the ferry tax. To comment, click on: https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/ContactUS/PostComment.aspx?Unit=Rules

    Mark your calendars for 3/19/12. Plan to attend the Public Hearing at Pamlico Community College at 7:00 pm. We need everyone to attend and protest the unfair imposition of taxes on our ferries. We must have a standing-room-only crowd. Come early to get a seat!

    Please know the 3/19/12 meeting is not an adequate substitute for being heard before the legislative decision-makers in Raleigh. However, legislators are watching to see what happens on 3/19/12. If only a few people attend, legislators would conclude we have capitulated. No! We must show them our anti-ferry tax movement is growing. We must have MORE PEOPLE on 3/19/12 than we did for the first ferry hearing in Pamlico County.

    Thank you for all you are doing. Keep up the good work.

   Henri and Joe McClees

    McClees Consulting, Inc.
      PO Box 430
      Oriental, NC 28571-0430
      office (252) 249-1097; fax (252) 249-3275
      www.mccleesconsulting.com

      Joe's mobile (252) 671-1585
      Henri's mobile (252) 671-1559