Business owners in Ocracoke Village are worried about how a potential new ferry toll could impact them.
The ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke is one of four currently free routes that would be tolled under the North Carolina Senate’s budget proposal. A round trip would cost visitors $40.
Bob Chestnut is the owner of Ocracoke’s Ride the Wind Surf Shop and a critic of the proposed toll. He says as much as three quarters of his business comes from day trippers.
“There doesn’t seem to have been a lot of thought put into it," he said, "You know, the bill just basically says we’re going to charge $20 for a ferry that’s never had a toll collected on it before. You know, where’s the information that says what the economic impact of that is?”
Chestnut and Hyde County officials are both urging legislators to study the economic impact of a toll on the free ferry.
The Senate approved the budget bill earlier this month. It is now being considered by the North Carolina House of Representatives.