Tarheel lawmakers are contemplating budget cuts that could result in tolls on four ferries that currently provide free service and double the fares on three other ferries.

Perhaps they should contemplate again.

For Ocracoke residents, who are upset about the possibility of new tolls or increases in existing tolls, that plan would mean they would have no free alternative for travel off the island.

Ocracoke residents view implementation of the plan as akin to killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

A legislative subcommittee is scheduled to meet this week to discuss overall transportation matters, including cuts to the state’s Ferry Division, which could result in the division being forced to charge tolls, according to Rep. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg, a subcommittee chairman.

‘‘Basically, the proposal is going to be a reduction of appropriations to the Ferry Division,’’ Killian said, according to an Associated Press story. ‘‘It’s probable to expect they’ll have to begin to toll to meet their budget.’’

To recoup more than $10 million in cuts, tolls on four existing free ferries would be $10 each way, with tolls on two ferries increasing from $15 to $30 and tolls on a third ferry increasing from $5 to $10.

The toll plan would leave the approximately 1,000 residents of Ocracoke, which has no bridges, as the only people who have to pay to get to a major road, said Sen. Clark Jenkins, D-Edgecombe, a committee member.

It’s understandable why Ocracoke residents and others are angry over the toll proposal. They consider the ferry system an extension of the state’s highway system.

That’s the way the Ferry Division has looked at its transportation services, said division spokeswoman Lucy Wallace. “The ferry system has always been considered an extension of the highway system,” she told the Associated Press.

Tolls for ferries to Ocracoke likely would result in fewer tourists visiting there, which are a major part of the island’s economy. Those people may consider a $20 (round-trip) toll too much of a price to pay to check out the barrier island. The Hatteras-Ocracoke route is the most popular in the ferry system.

The boards of commissioners in Hyde and Dare counties have passed resolutions opposing a toll. Ocracoke is in Hyde County. Hatteras is in Dare County.

We join those boards and Ocracoke residents in their opposition to the toll proposal. Send this proposal back to the drawing board for revision. In current form, it would be killing the goose that lays the golden egg.