FISCAL NOTE



FUND(S):

Toll Road Revenues

Sources of Revenue:

Other Fund Toll Road Revenues

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund



Fiscal Note Summary


Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.


No general revenues of the State of West Virginia would be used or impacted by this bill. Costs of collecting and enforcing tolls through electronic tolling systems would be covered by toll revenues and by administrative fees under this bill. To the extent there would be some administrative costs to the West Virginia Division of Highways (“DOH”) and the West Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority (“Parkways Authority”), or to the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) in any significant amount, it is contemplated that such costs would be defrayed by toll revenues and by administrative fees authorized under this bill. The exact of amount of evaded toll revenues that could be collected with the passage of this law is unknown at this time. However, it is certain that this legislation will enable the Parkways Authority and the DOH, as applicable, to enforce an administrative fee of $35 per violation on persons whose vehicles pass through a toll barrier (including an electronic toll collection lane (E-ZPass® lane)) without paying their tolls. That fee would help defray administrative costs of collecting evaded tolls. Also, persons who are charged with evading a toll are guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be fined in an amount not to exceed $50. These fines would be collected by the magistrate court in which the violations are tried. Also, any person who deliberately damages, defaces or obstructs any video collection system infrastructure or power supply in order to interfere with the operations of the system or electronic toll collection, will be guilty of a misdemeanor and will be fined in an amount not to exceed $500 and will be liable to the DOH or Parkways Authority for all repair costs. Passage of this legislation would provide the DMV with discretion to refuse to register or renew the registration of any vehicle whose owner has been found to have violated the law and has not paid all administrative fees, charges and fines for toll evasion.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2010
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2011
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 0 0
Personal Services 0 0 0
Current Expenses 0 0 0
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 0 0


Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):






Memorandum


As noted above, no general revenues of the State of West Virginia would be used or impacted by this bill because the costs of collecting and enforcing tolls through electronic tolling systems would be covered by toll revenues and by administrative fees under this bill. That is, to the extent there would be some administrative costs to the DOH and the Parkways Authority, or to DMV in any significant amount, it is contemplated that such costs would be defrayed by toll revenues and by administrative fees authorized under this bill. Under existing law (§17-16A-17), it is a misdemeanor to evade tolls or defraud the Parkways Authority or any of its toll collectors in regard to the payment of tolls, and the evasion of a toll carries a fine of $50 per offense. This new statute gives the DOH and the Parkways Authority legal authority to collect tolls and to enforce the collection of tolls through electronic toll collection including the use of a video enforcement system. Presently, a violation most commonly occurs on the West Virginia Turnpike when a customer does not have an existing E-ZPass® account for the electronic payment of tolls, but travels through an E-ZPass lane at one of the toll barriers without paying the applicable toll. The majority of other states that have toll roads and bridges have legislation in place that authorizes the applicable tolling agency to collect evaded tolls from violators. Many of these states also allow the tolling agency to collect administrative fees to cover the costs of collecting the evaded tolls, and some states, such as Virginia and California, additionally allow the tolling agency to collect monetary penalties. Pennsylvania already has electronic toll collection legislation in place. With the anticipated opening of the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Monongalia County, approximately 4.2 miles of the Expressway will pass through West Virginia on U. S. Route 43, and Pennsylvania has requested that West Virginia enact similar legislation to enable the State of Pennsylvania to collect tolls on the portion of the road contained within West Virginia’s borders. Additionally, the Parkways Authority is currently in the process of upgrading its 10 year old electronic toll collection system for the West Virginia Turnpike. This new system will have the software capability of tracking toll violations and automatically generating reports, and legislation is necessary to authorize the Parkways Authority to utilize its electronic toll collection system to monitor violations and collect tolls. Currently, the existing system in place on the West Virginia Turnpike does not have the capability to monitor all violations and generate reports using automated electronic and video equipment, with minimal manual effort or involvement. Presently, the monitoring of violations and the collection of evaded or non-paid tolls by the Parkways Authority does require some manual effort and involvement and is not as automated as modern electronic toll collection systems. The use of an updated, largely automated electronic toll collection system will be more cost effective than the existing procedures.



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Gregory C. Barr, General Manager
    Email Address: gbarr@wvturnpike.com