By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1392

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to toll collection and enforcement.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 228.001, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Subdivisions (2-a) and (7) to read as follows:

(2-a) "Operate" and "operation" include the processing and collecting of tolls and the providing of related customer services.

(7) "Registered owner" means:

(A) an owner as defined by Section 502.001; or

(B) the owner of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records of the department or the analogous department or agency of another state or country.

SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 228.054, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (e) or Section 228.0545, the operator of a vehicle, other than an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined by Section 541.201, that is driven or towed through a toll collection facility shall pay the proper toll. The exemption from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency vehicle applies regardless of whether the vehicle is:

(1) responding to an emergency;

(2) displaying a flashing light; or

(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 228, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 228.0545 to read as follows:

Sec. 228.0545. ALTERNATIVE TOLLING METHODS. (a) As an alternative to requiring payment of a toll at the time a vehicle is driven or towed through a toll collection facility, the department may use video billing or other tolling methods to permit the registered owner of the vehicle to pay the toll on a later date.

(b) The department may use automated enforcement technology authorized by Section 228.058 to identify the registered owner of the vehicle for purposes of billing, collection, and enforcement activities.

(c) The department shall send by first class mail to the registered owner of the vehicle a written notice of the total amount due. The notice must specify the date, which may not be earlier than the 15th day after the date the notice is mailed, by which the amount due must be paid. The registered owner shall pay the amount due on or before the date specified in the notice.

(d) The department shall send the notice required by Subsection (c) and subsequent notices to:

(1) the registered owner's address as shown in the vehicle registration records of the department; or

(2) an alternate address provided by the owner or derived through other reliable means.

(e) On or before October 1 of each year, the department shall conduct a cost analysis to determine a policy on whether to mail a notice under Subsection (c) after each time a vehicle is driven or towed through a toll collection facility or only after a certain number of times a vehicle is driven or towed through a facility. The policy must ensure that the cost to the department of collecting tolls as provided by this section does not exceed the amount of the tolls and fees collected.

SECTION 4. Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), (h), and (i), Section 228.055, Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) In the event of nonpayment of the [proper] toll as required by Section 228.054 or 228.0545, on issuance of a written notice of nonpayment, the registered owner of the nonpaying vehicle is liable for the payment of both the proper toll and an administrative fee.

(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 department or 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.

(d) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a) or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle is a lessor of the vehicle and not later than the 30th day after the date the notice of nonpayment is mailed provides to the department a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract document covering the vehicle on the date of the nonpayment under Section 228.054 or the date the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545, with the name and address of the lessee clearly legible. If the lessor provides the required information within the period prescribed, the department may send a notice of nonpayment to the lessee at the address shown on the contract document by first class mail before the 30th day after the date of receipt of the required information from the lessor. The lessee of the vehicle for which the proper toll was not paid who is mailed a written notice of nonpayment under this subsection and fails to pay the proper toll and administrative fee within the time specified by the notice of nonpayment commits an offense. The lessee shall pay a separate toll and administrative fee for each event of nonpayment. Each failure to pay a toll or administrative fee under this subsection is a separate offense.

(e) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a) or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle transferred ownership of the vehicle to another person before the event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 occurred or before the date the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545, submitted written notice of the transfer to the department in accordance with Section 520.023, and, before the 30th day after the date the notice of nonpayment is mailed, provides to the department the name and address of the person to whom the vehicle was transferred. If the former owner of the vehicle provides the required information within the period prescribed, the department may send a notice of nonpayment to the person to whom ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the address provided by the former owner by first class mail before the 30th day after the date of receipt of the required information from the former owner. The department may send all subsequent notices of nonpayment associated with the vehicle to the person to whom ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the address provided by the former owner or an alternate address provided by the subsequent owner or derived through other reliable means. The subsequent owner of the vehicle for which the proper toll was not paid who is mailed a written notice of nonpayment under this subsection and fails to pay the proper toll and administrative fee within the time specified by the notice of nonpayment commits an offense. The subsequent owner shall pay a separate toll and administrative fee for each event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545. Each failure to pay a toll or administrative fee under this subsection is a separate offense.

(h) [In this section, "registered owner" means the owner of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records of the department or the analogous department or agency of another state or country.

[(i)] The department may contract, in accordance with Section 2107.003, Government Code, with a person to collect the unpaid toll and administrative fee before referring the matter to a court with jurisdiction over the offense.

SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 228.056, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) In the prosecution of an offense under Section 228.055(c), (d), or (e):

(1) it is presumed that the notice of nonpayment was received on the fifth day after the date of mailing;

(2) a computer record of the department of the registered owner of the vehicle is prima facie evidence of its contents and that the defendant was the registered owner of the vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 occurred or on the date the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545; and

(3) a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract document covering the vehicle on the date of the underlying event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or on the date the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545 is prima facie evidence of its contents and that the defendant was the lessee of the vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 occurred or when the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545.

SECTION 6. Section 228.057, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:

(g) The department may, following closure of an electronic toll collection customer account and at the request of the account holder, refund the balance of funds in the account after making a deduction for any outstanding tolls and fees.

(h) The department may enter into an agreement with a governmental or private entity regarding the use of a transponder issued by the department and the corresponding electronic toll collection customer account to pay for parking services offered by the entity.

SECTION 7. Subsection (b), Section 228.058, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Automated enforcement technology approved by the department under Subsection (a) may be used only for the purpose of producing, depicting, photographing, or recording an image that depicts that portion of a vehicle necessary to establish the classification of vehicle and the proper toll to be charged, the license plate number, and the state or country of registration, including an image:

(1) of a license plate attached to the front or rear of a vehicle; and

(2) showing the vehicle dimensions, the presence of a trailer, and the number of axles.

SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.