Statement from Brunswick County Democratic candidates opposing tolls to pay for a new Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

We, the candidates running in Brunswick County for federal, state and local offices, adamantly oppose using tolls to pay for a new bridge across the Cape Fear River. 

Over the 50-year lifespan of the existing bridge, our residents and bridge users have dutifully and faithfully paid their gas taxes – currently 41 cents/gallon – to provide funding for the construction and maintenance of such vital arteries as the current and new bridge.   

The importance of a new bridge is of statewide concern, affecting all areas of North Carolina. Like the current one, it will be a major gateway to fundamentally important statewide facilities like the Port of Wilmington. 

Asking residents of the Cape Fear Region to shoulder a disproportionately large share of the costs for a new bridge that benefits the entire state places an unfair and inequitable burden on one segment of North Carolina’s population.

Many thousands of these users are local drivers who depend on the structure to pursue their livelihoods. Others must use the bridge on a regular or daily basis for business, health care, shopping , dining  and worship. Studies have shown an adverse economic impact on schoolteachers, construction workers, and others who will have to pay a daily tax to cross the bridge.

These frequent users are already making a significant contribution with each gallon of gas they buy – a tax that benefits the entire state. Imposing an additional tax on these users is inequitable. It reflects poorly on local, state, and federal authorities who support considering a toll to help defray the significant and mounting cost for a new bridge. In fact, current officeholders at all levels of government have been remiss in not aggressively pursuing alternate payment options – at the expense of their constituents.

Some local politicians believe including the possibility of a toll will help improve the funding prospects for a new bridge. This is a false and malicious suggestion that actually opens the door for bureaucrats who don’t represent the Cape Fear Region to require a toll. They will say that since local politicians support a toll, it’s okay for the state to require it as a condition of allocating funds for building the bridge.

To be sure, our elected officials have been absent without leave in putting pressure on state and federal authorities to explore alternatives to a toll. Brunswick County commissioners appear to be convinced a toll is inevitable and have laid down their swords. 

Our delegation to the North Carolina General Assembly, which includes the chairs of the House and Senate Transportation Committees, believes replacing legislative authority and oversight with a bureaucratic, one-coat-fits-all formula for allocating state funds is appropriate. But bureaucrats don’t represent the best interests of the Cape Fear Region. Our elected officials do – or should.

Meanwhile, our representative in the U.S. House of Representatives opposed passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. That act, which fortunately passed,  enabled a $242 million grant for a new bridge. And like his colleagues at the state and local levels, our federal representative is missing in action on efforts opposing this toll/tax on his constituents. He has made no statements and has failed to appear at public events on this important issue. 

Make no mistake. Such levels of hypocrisy will not be the rule of the day should we be elected. We will work to protect the interests of the people we serve in Brunswick County and the Cape Fear Region, with our unified opposition to a toll as a top priority.