Pamlico County commissioners approved a resolution this week calling on state lawmakers to keep coastal ferries free of tolls.
A provision in the Senate's budget would add tolls on all state-run ferry routes. Currently, only the Fort Fisher and Ocracoke ferries charge passengers.
Ken Heath is mayor of Arapahoe in Pamlico County. He says residents of the small town commute to jobs and schools on the ferry that crosses the Neuse River.
“It’s just not right to charge people to go to school or go to work," he said, "That’s ultimately what’s happening: the state is about to charge people to go to work.”
Heath says he's lobbying lawmakers to drop the tolling proposal from the final budget bill.