The N.C. General Assembly approved the state budget with a provision requiring the N.C. Ferry Division to start collecting tolls on previously free routes starting Jan. 1, including the heavily relied-upon Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach and Ocracoke-Hatteras routes used daily by locals.
Service for most of North Carolina's seven ferry routes has been free, but fares are charged for service on the popular Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes as well as the Southport-Fort Fisher route and the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry route.
Toll amounts have not yet been announced but a $150 annual residential commuter pass will be created, according to the state budget.
According to Chairman Kenny Heath and Vice Chairman Edward Riggs Jr. of the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners, they have been battling to prevent the proposed change to the historically free ferry routes for more than a decade, dating back to 2010.
"Kenny has been working really hard on getting this right with the state senators for years now," Riggs said. "We would stop this in a heartbeat if we could."
Riggs said the ferry from Cherry Branch to Minnesott Beach, which connects Craven and Pamlico counties through a 15-minute ride across four miles of the Neuse River, would otherwise require an over-50-mile drive around the river. He said the route is populated almost entirely by commuters, students, service members, veterans and essential workers.
The recent construction on U.S. 70 is one of the biggest reasons commuters use the ferry, Riggs said, citing consistent congestion, lane closures, accidents and frequent stoplights that prompt people to leave work earlier than they normally would.
"It is not a tourist ferry," Riggs said. "We have kids who go to school every day using that ferry. This is going to negatively affect so many people because there is no bridge. We are dependent on that ferry. The little amount that the state will receive from this is nothing compared to the overall economic loss Pamlico will face."
Riggs said the tolls would dissuade business of all kinds that would otherwise flow freely into Pamlico County, adding that he believes business owners in particular will face catastrophic losses.
Heath and Riggs said they believe lawmakers chose ferry tolls to offset revenue lost through planned income tax reductions, while raising prices in Pamlico and Hyde counties. They suggested the timing of the decision was influenced by upcoming elections.
"The ferry system has been free since it was taken over by the state..." Heath said. "And why hurt our county? We have the lowest hourly wage earners of any county in the state. This is a very short-sighted decision by the General Assembly."
Heath said that, with the pending N.C. Ferry Division state audit coming up, he is also frustrated that the General Assembly didn't wait until afterward to enact the change.
N.C. Sen. Norman Sanderson, a Republican who represents eight counties in District 2, also said lawmakers should wait before expanding ferry tolls.
House Bill 1094 would require State Auditor Dave Boliek to conduct the audit and report his findings to lawmakers by Jan. 15, according to the Carolina Journal.
"To me, it was the personal agenda of a few state senators," Heath said. "We continue to actively challenge the General Assembly every day."
Randal Mathews, Ocracoke representative on the Hyde County Board of Commissioners, said he believes adding tolls to the Ocracoke-Hatteras route is a recipe for turning Ocracoke into a ghost town. A large portion of Hyde County's economy is sustained by tourism, and Mathews said 30% of Ocracoke's traffic comes from the Cape Hatteras ferry route.
"Tolls will discourage tourists, fewer people will visit the town and our parks and campgrounds," Mathews said. "There is no other place in North Carolina where people will have to pay a toll just to get back home from work. People will move away."
Mathews said he also believes the decision will have a negative impact on the N.C. Department of Transportation, adding that he feels the ferry system is being unfairly scapegoated as the root of the department's funding shortfall.
Lawmakers of the General Assembly said the legislation is intended to generate recurring maintenance and fleet revenue amid high fuel costs and a need for vessel replacements, terminal improvements and other capital funding.
The decision also comes as the DOT's Integrated Mobility Division announced funding for 16 new Coordinated Public Transportation projects across the state, highlighting a contrast between new transit investments and the introduction of tolls on previously free ferry routes.
"Despite the decision, I want it to be known that Senator Bobby Hanig has done so much for us," Mathews said.
Heath agrees.
"Senator Sanderson and Senator Hanig were the only Republican senators who voted against the decision in the initial vote," he said.
Sanderson and N.C. Sen. Bobby Hanig, a Republican who represents 10 counties in District 1, voted against Senate Bill 257, the 2026 Appropriations Act, on second reading, in early July, over a provision requiring tolls on all state ferry routes, according to the Carolina Journal.
Neither senator voted against the budget on final reading. Hanig was absent, while Sanderson voted for the bill, the Carolina Journal reported.
The Ocracoke Access Alliance is planning to request a budget amendment that would delay the deadline of toll implementation by another year to Jan. 1, 2028, during the technical corrections period, a request that is backed by Hanig, according to Justin LeBlanc, OAA executive director.
Heath and Riggs, along with Sanderson and Hanig, were set to participate in the technical corrections period for the budget on Tuesday in a final effort to push the assembly to change the provision in a way that would allow locals to continue riding the ferries free of charge.