Updated 12:40 pm, Friday September 26, 2014
Steamship Authority (SSA) management Tuesday recommended a slate of fare hikes they said are needed to help fill a $1,900,000 hole in the boatline’s 2015 operating budget. General manager Wayne Lamson presented the recommendations at a meeting of the Steamship Authority board on Nantucket.
In total, management said it needs $1,900,000 from anticipated rate increases to meet its projected net operating income next year of around $3,619,000. Based on each routes cost of service, $1,400,000 would need to come from the Vineyard side of the ledger and $500,000 from Nantucket, according to a management report of the meeting.
“I think reasonable people will understand,” Martha’s Vineyard SSA member Marc Hanover, told The Times in a telephone conversation Tuesday. “A bunch of things are happening, two of the big boats are going in for dry dock, which is very expensive.”
Under the proposal presented Tuesday, the cost of a one-way adult passenger ticket to or from Martha’s Vineyard would rise from $7.50 to $8. That price does not include the 50 cent embarkation fee charged by port towns.
“Passengers are where the Steamship Authority makes money,” Mr. Hanover said. “Fifty cents, it doesn’t strike me as much. We’re going to need the money next year.”
Round trip auto excursion fares, the discounted vehicle rate for Martha’s Vineyard residents would increase by $2. Regular vehicle rates will not increase, under the proposal presented Tuesday.
“I do want people to understand that excursion rate that they pay covers 37 percent of the actual cost, so they’re getting quite a deal,” Mr. Hanover said. He also stressed that the fares are only proposals at this point, and he is looking at alternatives to raising the cost of excursion fares.
Parking at all of the SSA’s Falmouth satellite lots would cost $15 per calendar day in peak season, from May 15 to September 14, and $13 per calendar day in the shoulder seasons, from April 1 to May 14, and September 15 through October 31.
The cost of parking in the Falmouth lots is currently $13 per calendar day during the prime summer months, and $10 in the off season.
According to treasurer Bob Davis, the Steamship Authority will need $89 million to cover operating expenses in 2015. That represents an increase of $3,354,000, or 3.9 percent, over the estimated operating costs for the current year.
In a report on the board meeting, Mr. Lamson wrote that vessel fuel costs are expected to rise 2.5 percent to $9,669,000; overall maintenance is projected to rise 10.4 percent, or $1,371,000; health care expenses for employees are expected to increase by 5.2 percent or $368,000; and pension expense is projected to increase by 27 percent or $1,182,000. Mr. Lamson said the pension expense reflects recently approved contracts for licensed deck officers and unlicensed vessel employees.
The Steamship Authority raised rates for large trucks and parking in 2013. In 2012 it raised fares for automobiles and year round parking permits. The Steamship Authority last raised passenger rates in 2010.
The board is scheduled to vote on the proposed annual budget, which includes the fare increases, at its October 21 meeting, scheduled for the Oak Bluffs library.
Any fare hikes would likely take effect on January 1, 2015.
The original online version of this story incorrectly reported the proposed excursion fare hike as $4, and the location of the next meeting as the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.