The Edgartown select board approved a 12 per cent rate increase this week for the Chappy Ferry as residents raised concerns about financial transparency.

Nearly 30 people attended the public hearing Monday at town hall to discuss the proposed rate hike that ferry co-owner Peter Wells initially requested in June. Starting August 1, all fares will increase except for the passenger fare, which will remain at $5 per person.

“It’s not a number that I picked out of the hat,” Mr. Wells told the board. “It’s a number that I feel will make things financially possible for us without a lot of worry.” 

The Chappy Ferry is privately owned by Mr. Wells and his wife, Sally Snipes, but under the jurisdiction of Edgartown, which must approve rate changes. The ferry is the main public way to access the island of Chappaquiddick. 

Under the rate hike, vehicle fares will increase from $15 to $17 and bicycle fares $7 to $8 per round trip.

In a letter to the Edgartown select board, Mr. Wells said the rate increase was necessary for the ferry to meet its expenses during the coming year. He said a ferry redesign to address sea level rise will cost an additional $60,000, and the upgrades likely wouldn’t qualify for federal grants under the current administration. 

“There needs to be a buffer from the ferry accounts in order to deal with things that are coming up,” Mr. Wells said at the hearing Monday. 

He presented the ferry’s operating ratios to the board, determined by consultant Nardella & Taylor LLP. They showed that expenses for the first six months of 2025 outstripped revenue by nearly 4 per cent. During public comment, Chappaquiddick resident Peter Getsinger said expenses may have outweighed costs since foot traffic in the off-season tends to be lower. 

Mr. Wells submitted the operating ratios to the town that morning, and town administrator James Hagerty said he was unable to post it on the agenda ahead of the meeting. Members of the Chappaquiddick steering committee and residents, who had not seen the data, called for a more transparent process to determine the necessity of a rate increase. 

“Whenever someone wants to get a rate increase, there should be a formal audit so that the profit and loss initiative is clear…” said John Dropick, an Edgartown-based attorney who serves on the steering committee.

Mr. Dropick said the town should cover the added $60,000 sea level rise expenses itself, rather than placing the burden on Chappy Ferry Inc. and its users, since the ferry is part of the town’s transportation system.

“The town is responsible for the transportation network in town,” Mr. Dropick said. “When the town paves a road, the town does not request 100 per cent reimbursement from the people who live on that street.”

Chappaquiddick resident Rick Biros, who is also a member of the steering committee, said the town could find state grants to help meet the expenses. 

Many members of the Chappaquiddick steering committee called for the adoption of a proposed license agreement that outlines methods for determining the necessity of a rate increase. The committee submitted an agreement to the select board in 2023, though Mr. Hagerty said it was never adopted because it did not pass legal review with the town’s attorney.

Chappaquiddick resident Dana Strayton, who served on the Chappy Ferry steering committee, asked the town to work with the committee to outline a process. 

“I’m just asking you to take a look at it, because we sent you the license, we worked on it, and it just disappeared,” Ms. Strayton said. “Nobody brought it up, and nobody took any time to give us any feedback on it and try to make it a reality.”

Select board member Art Smadbeck said the select board would revisit the license at a later time and voiced his support for the rate increase. 

“I’m grateful that Peter’s there [to] make sure that this service is there for all of us,” Mr. Smadbeck said. “Going forward, we should look at the license… We’re here right now to deal with this rate increase, and I’m satisfied that with the information that Peter has presented to us, that this is going to keep the Chappaquiddick ferry running for the foreseeable future.”

Residents also raised concerns about eligibility for discounted Chappaquiddick resident rates. 

“If we’re going to continue to have a resident rate, it needs to be fairly equitable, and it needs to be across the board, without any arbitrary or capricious oversight,” Ms. Strayton said. “I have many people come to me who are not happy about the resident rate… It’s going to blow up at some point.”

Mr. Biros echoed these concerns and he submitted a letter to the board prior to the meeting asking for revisions to the resident rate qualifications to be in-line with the state’s definitions. In the letter, he said Mr. Wells determines who is a resident based on his own feelings, and that he and his wife were determined ineligible for the rate because Mr. Wells hadn’t seen them in awhile. 

Mr. Smadbeck said he didn’t think the select board was in charge of making a resident rate, and the board could revisit the subject when drafting a new license agreement. 

“This should all be part and parcel of trying to get to a new license agreement that passes legal [review],” he said.