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Senate Bill 959 |
Senate Author: Wentworth |
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Effective: 6-17-11 |
House Sponsor: Pickett |
Senate Bill 959 amends the Transportation Code to authorize the Texas Department of Transportation to use alternative tolling methods to permit the registered owner of a vehicle that is driven or towed through a toll collection facility to pay the toll at a later date. The bill authorizes the department to use automated enforcement technology to identify the registered owner of the vehicle and requires the department to send a notice of the total amount due to the registered owner. The bill sets out requirements for the notice. Regarding tolling methods generally, the bill allows the department to send a notice of nonpayment to an alternate address for the registered owner of a vehicle as an alternative to sending the notice to the address on record with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill also authorizes the department to impose one administrative fee that covers multiple events of nonpayment. The bill adds provisions relating to a refund from an electronic toll collection customer account and to the use of such an account to pay for parking services offered by a governmental or private entity. The bill clarifies that the department's authority to use automated enforcement technology to aid in the collection of tolls includes producing an image showing a vehicle's dimensions, the presence of a trailer, and the number of axles.