By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 2549
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority and operation of regional tollway
authorities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 366.038, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) For purposes of Subchapter C, Chapter 372, a toll
project for which an authority provides tolling services under a
tolling services agreement is considered a toll project of the
authority and the authority is considered the toll project entity
with respect to all rights and remedies arising under that
subchapter regarding the toll project. The authority may not stop,
detain, or impound a motor vehicle as authorized under that
subchapter on a toll project's active traffic lanes unless a
tolling service agreement addresses that action.
SECTION 2. Section 366.178, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (b-2), (b-3), (d), and (g) and adding
Subsection (k) to read as follows:
(b-2) If the authority does not collect the proper toll at
the time a vehicle is driven or towed through a toll assessment
facility, the authority shall send an invoice by first class mail to
the registered owner of the vehicle. The invoice may include one or
more tolls assessed by the authority for use of the project by the
nonpaying vehicle and must specify the date by which the toll or
tolls must be paid. Except as provided by Subsection (b-3), the
registered owner shall pay the unpaid tolls included in the invoice
not later than the 25th [30th] day after the date the invoice is
mailed.
(b-3) If the address to which the invoice issued under
Subsection (b-2) is mailed to the registered owner is determined to
be incorrect, the registered owner shall pay the invoice not later
than the 25th [30th] day after the date the invoice is mailed to the
correct address.
(d) Unless an authority requires additional time to send a
notice of nonpayment because of events outside the authority's
reasonable control, the authority shall send the first notice of
nonpayment not later than the 30th day after the date the 25-day
[30-day] period expires for the registered owner to pay the invoice
issued under Subsection (b-2) or (b-3). If an authority requires
additional time as provided by this subsection, the authority must
send the notice not later than the 60th day after the date the
25-day [30-day] period expires for the registered owner to pay the
invoice issued under Subsection (b-2) or (b-3). The first notice of
nonpayment shall require payment of the unpaid tolls included in
the invoice and the administrative fee before the 25th [30th] day
after the date the first notice of nonpayment is mailed.
(g) The court of the local jurisdiction in which the unpaid
toll was assessed may assess and collect the fine in addition to any
court costs. The court may [shall] collect and forward to the
authority properly assessed [the] unpaid tolls, administrative
fees, and third-party collection service fees incurred by the
authority as determined by:
(1) the court after a hearing; or
(2) written agreement of the registered owner [on or
before the date the fines and court costs are collected by the court
and forward the tolls and fees to the authority. Payment of the
unpaid tolls, administrative fees, and third-party collection
service fees by the registered owner may not be waived by the court
unless the court finds that the registered owner of the vehicle is
indigent].
(k) As authorized under Section 322.008(d)(2), Business &
Commerce Code, an authority may provide information, including an
invoice or notice, required under this section to be sent first
class mail instead as an electronic record:
(1) if the recipient of the information agrees to the
transmission of the information as an electronic record; and
(2) on terms acceptable to the recipient.
SECTION 3. Section 366.261(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Not later than June 30 [March 31] of each year, an
authority shall file with the commissioners court of each county of
the authority a written report on the authority's activities
describing all turnpike revenue bond issuances anticipated for the
coming year, the financial condition of the authority, all project
schedules, and the status of the authority's performance under the
most recent strategic plan.
At the invitation of a commissioners
court of a county in the authority, representatives of the board and
the administrative head of an authority shall appear before the
commissioners court to present the report and receive questions and
comments.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.