Galveston Wharves Board Voted to Scrap $2 Party Boat Fee

The Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees voted unanimously this week to remove additional per-passenger fees for party boats operating at Pier 19.

The board’s decision ends a tariff that operators said singled them out for higher costs compared to recreational vessels at nearby locations.

Capt. Scott Hickman, one of the board’s newest trustees, supported the move during Tuesday’s meeting to broaden public access to recreational activities.

“I want to increase access to recreational activities,” Hickman said. “This is one of the few places we have left on this side of the island where people can .. go do these things, and I want to make it more successful.”

The port began charging the fee in 2021 for vessels carrying between 10 and 125 passengers.

The tariff required operators to pay $2 per passenger for each round trip.

Port Director and CEO Rodger Rees said the fee was designed to offset maintenance costs at Pier 19, which also houses the historic Mosquito Fleet of shrimp boats.

Rees noted in a statement that the port spent more than $1 million on maintenance over the past five years while collecting $132,030 in passenger service charges since 2021.

He explained that the fee did not apply to port tenants at Pier 21 operating small passenger boats, such as tour boats, because their leases require them to fully maintain their own facilities and marine infrastructure.

For larger party boats, the tariff added as much as $400 to the cost of a trip during the peak summer season.

Jill Williams, whose family owns Williams Party Boats, said the fee created an uneven playing field for her business.

“The smaller party boats that we had down here when they first put in the tariff were not paying it,” Williams said. “One of them moved locations, and the other one went out of business. As far as I know, neither one of them ever paid it, so basically it’s just been us and Galveston Party Boats having to pay this tariff.”