85R12842 JAM-D
By: Schwertner S.B. No. 1437
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to payment for the use of a highway toll project.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 228.052, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The department may include in an agreement for toll
collection services entered into under this section provisions
requiring the person performing the services to:
(1) provide refunds of improperly charged tolls by
crediting the accounts of improperly charged electronic toll
collection customers with amounts equal to the improperly charged
tolls; and
(2) credit the accounts of improperly charged
electronic toll collection customers with an additional amount of
not more than $20 as compensation for time spent by the customer
contesting an improper charge.
SECTION 2. Section 228.0545(d), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) The department shall send the notice required under
Subsection (c) and subsequent notices to:
(1) the registered owner's address as shown in the
vehicle registration records of the Texas Department of Motor
Vehicles or the analogous department or agency of another state or
country or as shown in the driver's license records of the
Department of Public Safety; or
(2) an alternate address provided by the owner or
derived through other reliable means.
SECTION 3. Section 228.055(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The department may impose and collect the
administrative fee, so as to recover the cost of collecting the
unpaid toll, not to exceed $100. The department shall send a
written notice of nonpayment to the registered owner of the vehicle
at that owner's address as shown in the vehicle registration
records of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles or the analogous
department or agency of another state or country, at that owner's
address as shown in the driver's license records of the Department
of Public Safety, or at an alternate address provided by the owner
or derived through other reliable means. The notice of nonpayment
shall be sent by first class mail and may require payment not sooner
than the 30th day after the date the notice was mailed. The
registered owner shall pay a separate toll and administrative fee
for each event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545.
SECTION 4. Section 228.057, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) The department shall provide electronic toll collection
customers with an option to authorize automatic payment of tolls
through the withdrawal of funds from the customer's bank account.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 372, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 372.054, 372.055, and 372.056 to read
as follows:
Sec. 372.054. TOLL COLLECTION BY MAIL. (a) As an
alternative to requiring payment of a toll at the time a vehicle is
driven or towed through a toll collection facility, a toll project
entity shall use automated toll collection methods to allow the
registered owner of the vehicle to pay the toll at a later date as
provided by this section.
(b) For purposes of this section and Sections 228.054,
284.070, 366.178, and 370.177, the use of a transponder is
considered payment of a toll at the time a vehicle is driven or
towed through a toll collection facility if there are sufficient
funds in the account associated with the transponder at the time the
vehicle is driven or towed through the facility.
(c) A toll project entity shall send an invoice of unpaid
tolls by first class mail to the registered owner of a vehicle that
has incurred one or more unpaid tolls.
Sec. 372.055. DETERMINATION OF ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION
CUSTOMER ACCOUNT BEFORE PAYMENT SOLICITATION. (a) A toll project
entity may not send by first class mail an invoice or a notice of
unpaid tolls to the registered owner of a vehicle soliciting
payment of a toll or any related administrative fee unless the
entity first determines whether there is an active electronic toll
collection customer account that corresponds to a transponder
issued for the vehicle.
(b) If a toll project entity determines under Subsection (a)
that there is a sufficiently funded electronic toll collection
customer account that corresponds to a transponder issued for the
vehicle, the entity must:
(1) satisfy the outstanding toll from the account at
the standard electronic collection rate and may not collect any
administrative fees or late fees; and
(2) send by first class mail to the electronic toll
collection customer a notice informing the customer that the
transponder issued for the customer's vehicle may not be working
correctly.
Sec. 372.056. INFORMATION REQUIRED ON NOTICE OR INVOICE. A
notice or an invoice of unpaid tolls sent by a toll project entity
under Section 372.054 or any other section must clearly state that
the document is a bill and the recipient is expected to pay the
amount indicated.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to the collection of a toll incurred on or after the effective date
of this Act. The collection of a toll incurred before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.