by Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
March 10, 2026
Newport city officials say Gov. Dan McKee never consulted them in crafting his plan to raise fees on visiting cruise ships, a move they say could put the city by the sea at a serious disadvantage compared to other regional ports competing for tourism dollars.
That’s why the Newport City Council on March 4 unanimously approved a resolution opposing the fee hike McKee proposed in his recommended fiscal 2027 budget to generate revenue for Rhode Island’s often cash-strapped bus agency.
McKee is calling on lawmakers to raise cruise ship fees from $10 to $15 per passenger with the additional $5 allocated to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) to partially fill the deficit. But Rep. Lauren Carson, a Newport Democrat, wants to see lawmakers find an alternate source of revenue to sustain the RIPTA’s operations.
“I certainly support RIPTA, I’m just not sure that jeopardizing a major part of our tourism industry is the right way to go at this time,” she said in an interview Monday. “I don’t want to see ships not come here.”
Carson did not say where she would like to see alternative revenue come from.
The General Assembly approved legislation in 2024 allowing Newport to raise cruise ship fees for vessels that make the city a destination from $3 to $10 after the city sought authorization to raise additional revenue to improve harbor infrastructure, including a new harbormaster office and other upgrades at Perotti Park.
The law allowing ships to pay landing and boarding fees has been on the books since 1998. Before 2024, the last time lawmakers increased the rates was in 2014.
Newport’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget anticipates $2 million in total revenue from cruise ships.
“I do like Gov. McKee, but he didn’t consult anybody,” Councilor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano said near the end of the March 4 meeting, which stretched over four hours. “It was like we got smacked right after we got it.”
RIPTA faces a $13.8 million deficit heading into the next fiscal year, which McKee pledged to fill after declining to do so in last year’s recommended budget. Most of the money to fill that gap would come from a $9.3 million annual increase to RIPTA’s share of the state’s Highway Maintenance Account.
McKee’s administration projects $1 million revenue earmarked for the bus agency from the additional $5 per passenger generated by the cruise ship fee hike.
In a Feb. 4 letter submitted to the House Committee on Finance, RIPTA CEO Christopher Durand wrote that fees from the ships would go directly toward its transit operations across Aquidneck Island.
“With the opening of a new mobility hub at the base of the Pell Bridge and a growing number of cruise ships anchoring in Newport, RIPTA is seeing a significant increase in ridership,” Durand wrote, though he did not cite passenger numbers. “Increasing the cruise vessel landing fee will help ensure the ongoing provision of transit service in the region and especially in Newport.”
In a statement to Rhode Island Current Monday, Durand did not comment outright on Newport’s opposition to increasing cruise ship fees.
“RIPTA is continuing to work closely with the governor and the legislature as they evaluate long-term, sustainable funding solutions for public transit,” Durand said. “Our focus remains on working with state leaders on a path forward while maintaining the service riders depend on.”
The council’s resolution warns cruise ships could bypass Newport to avoid higher fees. In his Feb. 4 letter to the House Committee on Finance, Newport Harbormaster Stephen Land wrote that the proposed increase would make Newport “the highest priced tender port in New England.”
In Boston, cruise ships pay a $3 fee per passenger — though the price will increase to $15 per by 2030. Ships visiting Provincetown, Massachusetts, pay between $2 to $2.50 per passenger depending on the cruise line, confirmed a worker for the community’s harbormaster’s office.
Fees similarly vary in Portland, Maine: Vessels with more than 1,000 passengers pay $18 per person, while those with fewer passengers pay $13.
“This additional port fee increase will cause cruise ship lines to remove Newport from their itinerary, effectively ‘skipping over’ the city of Newport and state of Rhode Island,” Land wrote. “Compounded with inadequate time for cruise lines to adjust schedules or pass fees to already booked passengers, the industry would be disinclined to include Newport on their cruise itinerary.”
Rep. Marvin Abney, a Newport Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Finance, reserved comment on the proposed fee increase as lawmakers continue to shape the state’s budget.
“I live here, yes,” he said. “But I have to be very careful to make sure whatever I do is a balanced response to what happens.”
Democratic Sens. Lou DiPalma and Dawn Euer, who represent Newport across the State House rotunda, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. McKee’s office also did not immediately return Rhode Island Current’s inquiry.
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