<p>Oak Bluffs and Tisbury will ask the state legislature to triple their towns’ embarkation fees, joining forces in a pitch to increase money collected on ferry tickets.</p>
Oak Bluffs and Tisbury will ask the state legislature to triple their towns’ embarkation fees, joining forces in a pitch to increase money collected on ferry tickets.
At joint meetings of the towns’ select boards and finance committees on Wednesday, both town governments voted unanimously to ask the state legislature to increase embarkation fees to $1.50 from its current rate of 50 cents.
Embarkation fees of 50 cents per trip have been collected by the Steamship Authority on all full-fare ferry tickets since 2004, after port towns on the Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod banded together to enact the fee.
The SSA passes the money on to the port towns, which are required to use it on projects related to the local impacts of ferry operations.
Dredging, summer traffic enforcement and signage are among projects that can be funded by embarkation fees, which Tisbury financial committee chair Nancy Gilfoy said average about $248,000 a year for Tisbury. Currently, the town of Oak Bluffs receives about $200,000 in embarkation fees, according to draft minutes from its meeting Wednesday.
At $1.50 per trip, the proceeds would be more than $780,000 in Tisbury, said Mr. Cahill, who is the town’s delegate on the SSA port council.
Ms. Gilfoy said the goal of Wednesday’s votes was to team up with Oak Bluffs in asking Cape and Islands lawmakers to advance the request on Beacon Hill before the current legislative session ends Jan. 3.
“We want to make a recommendation that’s simple [and] unified, and make the strongest case we can to get this to go through in the next two weeks,” she said.
That’s a long shot, Ms. Gilfoy admitted.
“It would be really amazing if it passed in this legislative session,” she said. “I would expect it to go into the next.”
According to draft minutes from a joint meeting between the Oak Bluffs select board and its financial committee on Wednesday, the finance committee had been in discussion with State Sen. Julian Cyr regarding the embarkation fee increase. Sherry Countryman, who serves on the finance committee, recommended the towns “make a robust request on an increase in the embarkation fee.”
The draft minutes say the finance committee was “looking for a strong show of support from all the port towns.”
Comments
The fee should be eliminated
Ken Edg.The fee should be eliminated for anyone over 65. Try living on Social security.
What's three times better
Thomas Hodgson WTWhat's three times better than a fifty-cent-a-ticket honeymoneypot? (You guessed it!)Falmouth has gotten some heat for simply placing this money in their general account. The towns are required to place these funds in special accounts. The Gazette would do the Island community a service if it would give us a report on how our SSA port towns have spent the millions so far received from this tax.
Regarding Falmouth, not quite
Jim Newman Woods HoleRegarding Falmouth, not quite as you say. Falmouth has kept the embarkation funds that haven't been spent in a dedicated account, current balance about a million dollars, that won't be spent on anything not related to mitigating SSA impacts, per the rules. They've allocated some of the money over the years (maybe half?) to public safety, police and fire. They've also approved but not yet spent funds for LED speed signs and noise monitoring on Woods Hole Road and Palmer Ave.
The infrastructure and
George Stein OBThe infrastructure and manpower these towns finance in keeping responsibility for adequate services they should seek $2. Novel to see a state legislator actually interested . Congressional delegation leaves much to be desired as well. Bring home the bacon !
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