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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
NTTA responds to toll jumpers story
I received a few comments and emails implying that I was unfairly representing the process that has led to Collin County law enforcement dealing with over 12,000 "Failure to pay tolls" arrest warrants.
After I posted the article on toll jumpers in Collin County, I received a few comments and emails implying that I was unfairly representing the process that has led to Collin County law enforcement dealing with over 12,000 "Failure to pay tolls" arrest warrants.
So I asked the Public Information office at NTTA if they cared to respond. They did, and here is their response.
Bill,
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to respond to your article.
Most NTTA drivers, more than 95% of those who travel on North Texas toll roads to be exact, pay their tolls through a TollTag, ZipCash or the violation/invoice process.
However, the individuals to which you reference have driven on the toll roads and - for whatever reason - have not only failed to pay tolls, but have also failed to contact the NTTA to pay, and have not responded to several notices/invoices sent by us for payment.
At that point, the process for enforcing toll payment is handed over to the court of the local jurisdiction in which the violation occurred. This process is outlined in the Texas Transportation Code Section 366.178.
As such, the warrants you reference are for "failure to appear" and not the failure to pay as you mention in your story. The original citation is for failure to pay tolls, but the citations are issued from the Department of Public Safety if someone doesn't call, respond, come in, contact, or make arrangements with the Court. The NTTA has no authority to issue warrants for failure to pay a toll. Rather, these warrants are issued by the court because these individuals did not appear.
It is also important to note that these individuals who receive "failure to appear notices" have used the toll roads multiple times before any of this process starts and an invoice for payment is sent.
The NTTA and DPS use all means available to send toll invoices to the correct address, and there are multiple checks along the way to identify the vehicle's registered owner. Moreover, the NTTA has a court coordinator to assist patrons with any questions or concerns about their toll bills.
There is a simple message for drivers who chose not to pay: If you drive on the toll roads - pay the tolls like everyone else.
Thank you in advance,
Susan Slupecki
Asst. Public Information Officer
North Texas Tollway Authority
Bill comments:
Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast asked what I think is a very important question, "Licensed peace officers are some of the most expensive employees on every local government's payroll. Does it really make sense to use them as bill collectors for the toll booth operators?".
I know I would feel better sleeping at night knowing my local deputies and police officers were stopping/solving crimes instead of chasing down toll jumpers.
I have little sympathy for those who drive on the toll roads and refuse to pay. I just don't think that collecting tolls is the highest (or even proper) use of the limited resources in our criminal justice system.
It appears to me that the NTTA is saving money using the automated toll system by passing collection costs down to the police agencies and violators.
As to the "failure to appear" vs. "failure to pay", I appreciate the distiction. I used the term "failure to pay tolls" because that is the description used on the Sheriff's Department warrant page.
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Scott Doyle, verified:
Is there a specific amount that generates a warrant for your arrest, or is it anyone who hasn't paid as low as two measly tolls? They simply specified they're multiple offenders...nothing about just how many multiples it takes.
I'm torn b/c it's effectively stealing. Not only are the rest of us paying privately for road use, civil servants whose salaries are paid with our tax dollars are on the hook for chasing down you toll-jumping jerks.
Why in the world can't NTTA hire a few officers to take care of this?
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alexander troup, verified:
Doyle, your wanted over at the The 10 most wanted stories of 2008.A/T, HAPPY NEW YEAR.
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macklong, anonymous:
I have found I could have had a warrant if I had not called the NTTA and they informed me I had a outstanding citation. The confusing part is I have a NTTA account but they claim they could not bill my account so they sent a notice which I never received. I paid the tolltag fees and called the court to find that I will also need to pay a 100.00 fine there as well. This seems like a scam to me with the NTTA's office set up like some type of a collection agency. The NTTA was packed with people who had some of the same issues when I arrived because I could never get threw at the customer service line 972-818-6882. I am disappointed in the NTTA. We will keep our account but will use the service roads more often and check our NTTA account more closely in the future.
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srowens, anonymous:
Here's a copy of a letter I sent to Channel 11 about the NTTA tactics.
To: Mr. Bennett Cunningham Channel 11 News, Dallas
Mr. Cunningham,
I have seen you reports on many NTTA matters and thought you would be interested in my problem.
I bought a car for my daughter and added her to my tolltag account. The car was registered in my name till it was paid off. During that time I removed her from my account and she obtained her own tolltag.
She then started to run a negative balance on her account and, you know the rest, NTTA started sending ME the violation notices.
I got involved and told them I was not reasonable for the tolls. They agreed that the car had a tolltag belonging to my daughter associated with the plate number on the car at the time the charges were incurred. They then informed me that due to Texas Transportation code 366.178 I would be held reasonable and that the matter would be turned over to collections, generate a citation, a fine and even subject me AND my wife to ARREST!!
I told them to bring it on.
I would LOVE to see them haul me and my wife off to jail for something WE did not do. I told them I would pay for the actual tolls, less fines, if they would acknowledge that this was not going to be a problem for ME again. They did and I paid the tolls.
After a few months it started all over again.
This time I called and told them we had been down this road before. That they had acknowledged these were not my tolls and I would not be bothered with this again. Of coarse again you know the rest. Now they don't know what I'm talking about and they are going forward with all the above mentioned actions.
I have since paid the car off and transferred it into my daughters name to stop anymore of this nonsense but the above charges and threats still continue even though, once again, I made them an offer to pay the remaining tolls less fines. They refused to accept this offer and today (1/19/2009) I received a call from their collection agency.
Now, I can't be the only person in Texas getting this treatment. These tactics seem unconstitutional to me. They are trying to hold me responsible for the actions of another even AFTER they acknowledged the car had a tolltag associated with it.
This is absurd!
Am I going to be held responsible if she robs a bank in my car? No, of coarse not, but these people have managed to get many things done here in Texas that are questionable. This is just another abusive action in a long list of the same from NTTA and it's time to put a stop to it all.
I am willing to go as far as necessary to get this changed. 366.178 or not, this is just wrong. The rental car agencies are billing renters for speed pass charges incurred during the rental. Are these companies also being held responsible for the actions of others? I doubt it! That's a double standard if it's true. Today I called NTTA again to try and settle this with no luck. It then occured to me that the bill has my daughters account number on it. After pointing this out to them and even after telling them that she agrees the charges are hers they refused to remove me from the bill. See you in court NTTA.
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Alex Bentley, staff:
Received the following via anonymous e-mail yesterday:
"At the end of this month (June 2009) I will have lived at my address for 9 months. I travel the Tollway to and from Downtown Dallas for work. I pay at evey toll booth and toll plaza. I had no idea what "zip cash" was till my mail from the NTTA cought up with me. For approx 6 months they say I owe $6000 because of a place where there are no toll booths or plazas. Why $6000...because for every $1 they tack on a $25 admin fee. I tried to talk to them but they were unyeilding.
Also, they will not let me pay the $1 fees that have not had an admin fee tacked on because of my back balance. So, by the time I move at the end of the month I will owe them approx $10,000 for 9 months on the Tollway...and that doesn't include all the toll booths and plaza's I have been paying. They go on to say if I don't pay then a $250 citation for each $1 will be issued and can go to warrant status. If you do the math I could end up owing around $250,000 for driving the Tollway for less than a year. I need help!!!"
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Jason Rice, verified:
If there were ever a reason to storm the Bastille of NTTA....
pirates
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jtmbls, anonymous:
Geez...These people are out of control.
I think I would rather that $6,000 go to a good attorney to kick their butts in court!
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Jason Rice, verified:
The state of Texas handed them to the keys to the kingdom. They are unassailable. A commercial entity with no accountability and access to direct law enforcement without legislation.
Genius.
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
I'd flee the country.
Or at least the county.
Oh, who am I kidding, I'd just get drunk and pee in their mailbox.
So long as it was in the same county.
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Chris Kidd, verified:
Hence another reason I refuse to use NTTA-based roads. They're allowed to run a kangeroo court-style operation and have no oversite. Another fine mess Gov. Goodhair got us into. Im hoping next leg session the state starts getting tough with the NTTA and other entities of their nature.
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tx_dem41, anonymous:
From my past experience, they will only add the $25 charge if you have been billed at the $1 rate and ignored it.
Also, in my experience, they have been pretty lenient about waiving the administrative fees (then again I owed only $25).
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
Right, but if they never send you a notice, you can't help but ignore it (like the anonymous e-mailer said.)
This makes me want to sign on to their website - if they have one - and check if I owe them any money - if that's something that can be done.
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jtmbls, anonymous:
It can, under the customer service center of all places. You have to know your tag number.
http://www.ntta.org/
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Alex Bentley, staff:
See, that's the thing I'm confused about -- the anonymous e-mailer didn't have a TollTag (not sure why since it'd be pretty dang annoying to use the Tollway every day without a tag), so apparently there's no online way to check if you have an outstanding balance.
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jtmbls, anonymous:
Sorry, I meant license number...
If you go to resolve violations on the lower right corner of the customer service page, you can put in your license plate number and the state and it should tell you if you have anything outstanding. I say should because I can't remember my license plate number so I can't test it.
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Travis Bush, verified:
jt...do you even own a car? Not sure orangs are allowed to drive..
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Alex Bentley, staff:
Went to the site -- you still need an Invoice ID or Collections ID number, which doesn't really help anyone who hasn't received one of those.
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jtmbls, anonymous:
Well enough to run you off the side walk!
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Scott Doyle, verified:
iirc there aren't any zip-cash collections on DNT yet, only 121...
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Scott Doyle, verified:
Yep, see the page for <a href="http://www.ntta.org/AboutUs/Roadways/TollRates.htm">All-Electric Toll Collection</a>, charged with ZipCash machines - new projects are starting out with it up front, other sections of NTTA's system are being converted. Most notably the Bushway since it's effective 7/1/09.
There are no booths for those, so if you don't have a tag you're supposedly snail-mailed the bill. A few pointers from the FAQ pdf (<a href="http://www.ntta.org/NR/rdonlyres/A93F20DA-CAE7-46AE-BA67-FB2CD92D7E7E/0/NTTAAllETCConversion_041409.pdf">click here to view</a>):
When a motorist without a TollTag travels through designated ZipCash tolling points a digital image of his or her vehicle’s license plate is captured. An invoice for the toll payment is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle. Texas law requires that the owner of the vehicle is responsible for the toll payment.
ZipCash is an option to pay tolls but, unlike TollTag payments, a premium is added to each toll to cover the costs of processing. TollTag users save up to 45 percent in toll fees by using the automated system.
Also, pretty damn vague on how often you'll be billed:
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
I sure hope my address on my vehicle registration is correct and current. I'd sure hate to be billed $10k because a meth addict at my previous apartment decided it would be easier to throw away my mail rather than forward it to me.
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southernbeardown54, anonymous:
The story itself is misleading. "tolljumpers". If they have cameras and send you a bill for missed tolls then how is this stealing? I could see if you ignored the bills. This is what the NTTA says happens, however I would guarantee it's a lie. Research these folks. It's purely a revenue grab. Like most govt agencies. We pay them to find ways to steal form us. Brilliant
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Scott Doyle, verified:
I fail to see how labeling people not paying tolls as "tolljumpers" is misleading. If you drive a toll road every day to and from work, yet magically never have to pay your way, it's not because you've been smiled upon by the toll gods.
I hear if you wear your tinfoil cap through ZipCash they can't read your brain frequencies. Something to consider.
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southernbeardown54, anonymous:
They send you a bill. See maybe you didnt read my entire comment Scott. They send you a bill when you go on 121 and now they have eliminated the cash option altogether in order to send you a bill while driving on the GBT. I wonder if you work for the NTTA because this kind of fog story is what they like to pass around. Either that or you should take the tin foil of your noggin'
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Scott Doyle, verified:
I read every painstaking word of your comment. You don't seem to understand that either way you pay a premium if you don't have a tolltag - when there were booths, pay-as-you-go used much higher rates than tag owners.
I don't work there or have any affiliation with them. Simply can't stand people whining for the sake of hating all things government. Of course it's a revenue stream - that doesn't guarantee it's a profit stream.
TxDOT effectively employs them, take it to your state rep if you feel they're out of line.
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Travis Bush, verified:
I knew it! Scott works for the NTTA, TXDOT AND teh Illuminati..
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southernbeardown54, anonymous:
"Hating all things government". Wow that's a big jump. I want everyone to have accountability. That's for certain. I would ask you where do you think the revenue goes? What happens to the 38.4 cents for every gallon of gas pumped? What about the registration and inspection fees? Those are supposed to go toward roads. You went off on some tangent that really had little to do with my post. You may have read it, but didnt interpret it correctly.
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Bill Baumbach, verified:
Scott,
You wrote, "TxDOT effectively employs them"
You couldn't be more wrong.
NTTA like DART is run by a board of directors. That board sets tolls and policy (hopefully consistent with state law).
There are 9 members of the NTTA board of directors. Each of the 4 counties in NTTAs service region appoints 2 and the governor appoints 1.
A listing of board members can be found at http://www.ntta.org/AboutUs/Board/
NTTA, is one of many 'alphabet soup' entities that levy fees, taxes and fines on citizens who are never given an opportunity to vote for these boards members.
There's a lot wrong with the way NTTA is set up, but being under the control of TXDOT is not one of them.
Bill
The Collin County Observer
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Scott Doyle, verified:
Bill, having a board of directors doesn't mean an organization is magically empowered to do what it wants.
Per NTTA's <a href="http://www.ntta.org/AboutUs/Who/">About Us</a> page, Ch. 366 of the Transportation Code is how they exist. <a href="http://law.onecle.com/texas/transportation/366.002.00.html">Click hiyah</a> for link to said chapter's purpose:
This puts the A in NTTA. TxDOT awards NTTA its toll collection contracts, meaning it's not necessarily automagic that any tollroad in North Texas will be handled by them...but it's a pretty damn good bet.
So, as I said, TxDOT effectively employs them.
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Scott Doyle, verified:
Btw, southern, I definitely agree with your implication on redundancy between taxes/fees and tolls.
While I'd like to play devil's advocate and point out it's gotta be extremely tough for one department to handle all the transportation needs in a state as big as ours, this delegation process is in serious question.
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jtmbls, anonymous:
Scott finally gave in to the tin foil! YES!! I have been waiting for this day for sooo long!
My company has a board of directors and yet still has employees. These are not mutually exclusive.
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Scott Doyle, verified:
Too lazy to resize, sorry Miko.
<img src="http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6001/image201832.jpg">
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yospiff, anonymous:
They sent me a bill for $650 in fines/fees for being less than 30 days late on a $24 zip cash bill. (First time I was late.) This is not a case of me evading thousands of dollars in tolls for months or years as this articles suggests is often the case. Apparently, I got caught in their crackdown the first time I was not prompt. I have no complaint about paying a reasonable late fee, but this is not reasonable. Not even the IRS hits people with fines like that. Their implication was that this is like evading a traffic violation.
End result is they let me pay just a $24 fine by signing up for a tolltag and catching up on my bill. It worked out ok for me, but their strongarm tactics left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
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littlefamily94, anonymous:
I live in Longview and visited my in-laws in Dallas last July and last Sept. They told me not to worry about paying the toll fee anymore because now they would just send you a bill in the mail. There are 6 transactions for July and 4 for Sept. I just now got a bill that says FINAL NOTICE you have not paid your bill. The toll total is $11.85 and then they add $25 to each transaction bringing the total to $261.85!!!! I know I never received a bill from them. Has anyone else experienced this???? Are they scamming me to get more money???
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helio4113, anonymous:
Just got a letter 3 days ago, I owed $234 and called Southwest Credit (the collector) and they offered me a "settlement" for $150 so I said fine, turns out I also had to pay taxes? I ended up paying $161.16 I hope is the last time I have to pay this much on $9.71 (the original dues) son of a....
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yellow_01tj, anonymous:
We're battling a $1,300 bill for being 30 days late on a bill we never recieved for $53.03. The bill was sent to my gf's dad's house because he's the first name on the title so he didn't open it. NTTA refuses to back down from this. The tolls were racked up in 25 days, not like she was skipping out on the toll for months.
We're in the process of filing complaints with the attorney general, federal trade commision, TDLR, state reps and a few others. After that, we're going to persue a class action lawsuit with all the other fine folks in our situation.
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andrew_benedict, anonymous:
10 TOLLS ADD UP TO 255 BUCKS!! I GOT A "FINAL INVOICE" AS A FIRST INVOICE?! I send them a letter and it gets returned with my check for 10.45 that i owed in tolls, told them thats all the money they were getting from me because i did not run ANY tolls, when i called they told me I ran thru the tolltag lanes without a tag, WHEN THE MANNED BOOTHS WERE BARRICAIDED CLOSED! RICK PERRY NEEDS TO GO DOWN, if ANYONE wants to team up with me to take these CROOKS down email me at andrew_benedict@att.net
I WILL FIGHT THIS ALL THE WAY TO COURT, I HAVE WITNESSES WHO WILL TESTIFY WE DID NOT RUN ANY TOLLS...THEIR SYSTEM IS MESSED UP AND WE SHOULD NOT LET THIS GO ON ANY LONGER
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lewsha, anonymous:
I have had the same thing happen to me except I always paid my tolls,it's just that the cash machines on the DNT sometimes did not read all .75 that I threw in there.Hence the light did not turn green and I went on knowing I threw my money in.That's not how they saw it.I got a bill for over $250.00 in the mail (this was back in '01)but they said they would waive it if I got a toll tag.Strong Armed again,but no lighter in the wallet.Also received a letter in the mail saying we owed them money for fees not collected on 4 or 5 booths where supposedly it did not read our tag.I called BS on that and threw the letter away.If I owe them money,why don't they put it on my tag?
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mikegraffmusic, anonymous:
This whole "Keep moving, we'll bill you later" scheme is promoted as a "convenience", but it really just opens us all up to unimagined headaches. If the schedule of back-end "administrative fees" were posted and readable before entering a tollbooth, everybody would exit and take another route. Who knows what this mystery bill will be when it finally arrives a month and a half later. And will I have the money at that point? It's an open-ended gamble. In my case, the amount they tacked on for being 45 days late paying one of many NTAA bills that I've received ended up turning an original bill for $40.03 into a $995 balloon of absurdity. That's around 25 times the amount of the actual toll. In what universe does that constitute a reasonable late fee? Most people who get these kind of bills are not trying to rip off the NTAA, The State of Texas, or anybody else. We're just families trying to survive on a fixed income. If there had been somebody available to take our money when we approached the tollway, we would have paid cash at the time of each transaction. Or we would have realized we didn't have the coins, and we would have simply exited at that time. I've driven on tollways for decades and have never had a $995 bill.
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thatsmegettinmail, anonymous:
They claim they sent a bill in october of 2011 for tolls from September and october of 2010. Apparently, I didn't pay this bill within a month, so they sent one with $118 in administrative fees (for $18 worth of tolls). I pay roughly $100/mo in tolls and don't appreciate being told that I'm a toll jumper. I don't remember recieving this bill and if I did, I'd surely pay it asap. I dealt with this before when I sold a car and the new owner ran a bunch of tolls because he didn't see the point in paying the government a wad of useless money either, thus he didn't register the car. NTTA can send me a bill a year late, but if I did that, they'd have a warrant out for my arrest....or the court would issue a warrant for my arrest. It must be nice to have the government on your side.
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pavita26, anonymous:
Do you know how this works with out-of-country plates? I'm working with a working visa and brought my car from Mexico. I've been looking for options to pay but there in nothing on out of country cars! What if someone is on vacations ? Any ideas? Thanks!
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Jason Rice, verified:
This has ALWAYS miffed me about these toll lanes. If you find yourself at a booth - you are just plain screwed. I have never once seen an "exit" on a ramp... and in all honesty, the ramps are damned poorly marked. "Poof" you are on a toll road with NO recourse.
I hope their road to hell is paved with "Pay Later" signage.
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What do you think?