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DENTON — Caroline County Recreation and Parks Director Jamie Beechey presented the Caroline County Commissioners with a proposed FY2026 fee schedule update for boat ramp use passes at the Commissioners’ meeting on December 9. While in-state annual passes will remain at the $25 cost, changes were made to other aspects of the fee schedule.
The original proposal would have raised the in-state annual pass to $30. Beechey noted that neighboring counties have much higher annual permit charges than Caroline, and the fees have not been raised since 2018. She also pointed out that the Department of Natural Resources allows counties to charge more for out-of-state boaters, so the proposed changes included doubling the permit fee to $50 for non-Marylanders. Lastly, Beechey explained that managing boat ramp day passes has become “not worth the squeeze” as boaters are either spending the $25 on a yearly permit or risking being caught permitless for the day, so she wanted to see it taken off the fee schedule.
While the Commissioners were not on board with the upcharge from $25 to $30, they did accept doing away with day passes and the proposed $50 permit cost for out-of-state applicants. Commissioners noted that the extra expense for out-of-staters may help mitigate reckless boaters on Caroline’s waterways.
