County Appeals judge's ruling in Fair Fares Case

On January 23, 2026, the last day possible, Skagit County's attorney, Eric Pedersen, filed a Motion to Reconsider contesting Judge Kathyrn Loring's decision in the Fair Fares LLC Appeal of the 2025 fare increase for the Guemes Island Ferry.  Pedersen's arguments are that both the fare increase (Resoultion 20250015)  and Resolution 20250009 (non-expiry cards) should not have been invalidated which was Judge Loring's determination.  This is the link to the Pedersen's Motion to Reconsider: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TdAgVZ-35X5wKXwUHoaJaDZ6j5HG84T6/view?usp=sharing

On February 2, 2026, Fair Fares filed its rebuttal of the County's arguments concluding that Judge Loring's decision to invalidated both Resolutions should be upheld.  Oral arguments will be heard on February 24, 2026 at 3:00 PM via ZOOM hosted at Superior Court of Skagit County.  Once Fair Fares has the ZOOM link, it will be posted here as the oral arguments should be open to the public.  This is the link to the Fair Fares rebuttal:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B5rPwK8R72Bp39BN20jhVDG02XhJhW1L/view?usp=sharing

It is the opinion of Fair Fares that part of the County's legal strategy in this entire Appeal process has been to delay any meaningful review of the 2025 fair increase. Pending the decision following oral arguments on Februry 24, Fair Fares will decide its next course of action.  The Appeal of the 2026 fare increase has been filed but has yet to proceed pending the outcome of this Motion to Reconsider.