Legislature more than doubles boat-registration fees to pay for inlet dredging

Fee hikes differ between vessels of different sizes in Republican budget

The Republican legislature’s budget was finalized July 25, and North Carolina boaters will discover that vessel registration fees have more than doubled as they pay for the dredging of shallow-draft coastal inlets.

The Republicans placed a “Shallow Draft Navigation Channel and Lake Dredging Fund” on that portion of the budget act after they were stung by criticism and questions of why inland boaters should pay increased fees to fix coastal inlet shoaling.

Previously, a one-year registration cost $15 and a three-year registration $40, but owners of vessels less than 26 feet long now will have to pay $30 for one year and $90 for three years, and owners of vessels longer than 26 feet will pay $50 a year and $150 for three years.

Sailboats longer than 14 feet are included in the same registration-fee schedule as motor boats, and boat-title transfer fees rise from $20 to $30.

However, the legislature knew that increasing registration fees wouldn’t adequately fund inlet work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, so one-sixth of one percent of the money allocated from the excise tax on motor fuel to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Boating Account will also be used to pay for inlet dredging.

The budget, passed by both houses of the Republican-dominated legislature, denies the Commission any power to approve or disapprove dispersal of marine funds. The Commission only may act in an advisory capacity, while the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and its director will have the power to spend the money.

In addition, any project funded by revenue from the Boating Fund must be cost-shared with non-state dollars on a one-to-one basis. That means coastal communities must earmark tax monies for the dredging fund or increase taxes to match funds with the state.

The legislature’s allocations in 2013-14 for the inlet dredging fund are $2,280,350, while the 2014-15 goal is $2,193,500.

These eligible channels include the ICW and its side channels, Beaufort Harbor, Bogue Inlet, Carolina Beach Inlet, the channel from Back Sound to Lookout Back, channels connected to federal navigation channels, Lockwood Folly River, Manteo/Shallowbag Bay, Oregon Inlet, Masonboro Inlet, New River Inlet, New Topsail Inlet, Rodanthe and Rollinson channels, Shallow River, Silver Lake Harbor and the waterway connecting Pamlico Sound and Beaufort Harbor.