By TheNewspaper.com
The Texas Department of Transportation keeps interest generated on money that must be left on toll transponder accounts.
Motorists who use the TxTag electronic transponders to drive on Texas toll roads are having their accounts raided by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The agency requires a bare minimum of $10 be kept in any account at all times. If the balance falls below this level, TxDOT automatically charges the credit card on file $20. TxDOT then pockets the interest accumulated from the accounts linked to the 390,000 vehicles equipped with TxTags.
An average account generates about $1 in interest every year. Although $1 is not much, Texas tolling authorities have mailed motorists bills for 25 cents in alleged unpaid tolls and added penalties of $5.25 on anyone who ignored payment of the trivial amount.
For TxDOT, keeping the interest on the $9.8 million in motorist accounts generates about $400,000 in annual revenue. The money helps defray the cost of the multi-million dollar Keep Texas Moving public relations campaign designed to convince Texans of the need for more toll roads.
Read the rest of the article HERE
12/11/2007
Texas Keeps Cash from Interest on Toll Transponder Accounts
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2 comments:
If only state TxDot employees are manageing the TexTag database and funds, then that explains some of the hilarious mismanagement of TexTag that I have heard about so far. I stood at the 290W Farmers Market recently to hand out free "Boycott Toll Roads Shut 'em Down" bumper stickers. I heard a lot of stories and profanity from people's experience using the toll roads and TexTag.
$400,000 in state revenue for TxDot is state finance wise peanuts. What would really add insult to injury is if we find out TxDOT is hiring private outsouce contractors to do the computer data management of the Tex Tag program.
January 6, 2009
Monday my son got a letter saying that he owed $104.50 for a toll on loop 49 in Tyler. HE has never driven on Loop 49. HE sold a car back in March of 2007 and the people that bought the car did not change the title. They started driving on Loop 49. My son Got a bill for $1.50 several months later saying that he owed this money. This was from the car that he had sold in March. We furnished the information They wanted to clear this problem. We never heard another word from them until Monday. Now they want 104.50 in late charges. This is a total mismanagment of the system. Why can't these people do there job right. People just cannot keep covering up for these people that are incompetent. They have refuse to take the 1.50 in payment, because thy have sent this to a collection agency. More paper work will not cover up the problem that they have with this office.
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