Good news: No new ferry tolls! | Eastern North Carolina Now

    News Release:

Congratulations to everyone who worked against new ferry tolls! Thanks to you, we won!

    Good news: No new ferry tolls!

    No ferry tolls will be imposed on the Aurora/Bayview ferry. No new tolls will be imposed on any ferries for the fiscal year 2013-2014. Cedar Island and Swan Quarter and other existing ferry tolls will not be removed. Congratulations to everyone who voiced opposition to new ferry tolls.

    Our legislators worked diligently to protect our basic transportation needs. Senator Bill Cook, Rep. Paul Tine, and Rep. Michael Speciale joined forces with Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation Chairman John Torbett, Rep. Charles Jeter, Rep. Frank Iler, and other legislators to fight for us. Please thank them for their endurance in the legislative process. They fought for us and prevailed.

    This week, the NC General Assembly moves through the process of passing the Appropriations Act of 2013, Senate Bill #402. In one of its last actions of the 2013 session, the Legislature will restore Five Million Dollars originally removed from the Ferry Division budget. We are safe from ferry tolls for the present time. The details of this issue are found on pages 356 through 358 of Senate Bill #402, Proposed Conference Committee Substitute, which was published Sunday evening.

    For the first time in history, North Carolina's population is one half urban and one half rural. The 2013 General Assembly welcomed many new legislators who reflect this massive change: 1/2 legislators are from urban districts and 1/2 from rural districts in eastern and western NC.

    For coastal counties, future decisions on transportation expenditures may be dramatically different. Several new laws have altered the decision-making process. The Highway Trust Fund, comprising fuel taxes and select federal funds, will no longer be used for non-transportation purposes.
Beaufort County Ferry landing crossing the Pamlico River at Gaylords Bay: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    HB#475 now goes to the House Finance Committee, where it must be considered and approved before it can go to the full House of Representatives.

    The Highway Trust Fund will be spent using a new formula: forty percent (40%) will be used for Statewide Strategic Mobility Projects; thirty percent (30%) will be used for Regional Impact Projects and will be allocated by population of Distribution Regions; and the remaining thirty percent (30%) will be allocated in equal share among the Transportation Department Divisions, including the Ferry Division.

    Beaufort County is one of fourteen counties in Distribution Region B.

    Beaufort County citizens will have the opportunity for input on these decisions through the Mid-East Rural Planning Organization (RPO). Active involvement by Beaufort County residents in the long range planning process will be necessary to plan for future transportation expenses, including the purchase of new ferries.

    Beaufort County Commissioners will certainly take a fresh look at the importance of strategic representation on the Rural Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) of the RPO.

    Best regards,

     Henri and Joe McClees

    Joe McClees & Henri McClees
      McClees Consulting, Inc.

      Post Office Box 430
      Oriental, NC 28571

      Office (252) 249-1097
      Fax (252) 249-3275
      www.mccleesconsulting.com
      Joe McClees's mobile (252) 671-1585
      Henri's mobile (252) 671-1559