Bill Text: NC H1685 | 2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Turnpike Authority Toll Enforcement Changes
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-07-21 - Ch. SL 2010-133 [H1685 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2010-H1685-Chaptered.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2009
SESSION LAW 2010-133
HOUSE BILL 1685
AN ACT to make various changes to the STATUTES governing collection and enforcement of tolls by THE North Carolina Turnpike AUTHORITY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 136‑82.2 is repealed.
SECTION 2. G.S. 136‑89.211 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑89.211. Tolls for use of Turnpike project.
In exercising its authority under G.S. 136‑89.183 to set tolls for the use of a Turnpike project, the Authority may not do any of the following:
(1) Set open road tolls that
vary for the same class of motor vehicle depending on the method by which the
Authority identifies a motor vehicle that drives on the Turnpike project. This
does not preclude the Authority from allowing a discount of up to thirty‑five
percent (35%) of the amount of a toll for a motor vehicle equipped with an
electronic toll collection transponder.transponder or a motor vehicle
that has prepaid its toll.
(2) Exempt a motor vehicle that is not a law enforcement vehicle, an emergency fire or rescue vehicle, or an emergency medical services vehicle from the requirement of paying a toll for the use of a Turnpike project."
SECTION 3. G.S. 136‑89.214(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) Bill. If a motor
vehicle travels on a Turnpike project that uses an open road tolling system and
a toll for traveling on the project is not paid within 15 days after the
travel occurs, prior to travel or at the time of travel, the
Authority must send a bill by first‑class mail to the registered owner of
the motor vehicle for the amount of the unpaid toll. The Authority must send
the bill within 90 days after the travel occurs. If a bill is not sent within
the required time, the Authority waives collection of the toll. The Authority
must establish a billing period for unpaid open road tolls that is no shorter
than 15 days. A bill for a billing period must include all unpaid tolls
incurred by the same person during the billing period."
SECTION 4. G.S. 136‑89.215 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑89.215. Required action upon receiving bill for open road toll and processing fee for unpaid toll.
(a) Action Required. A
person who receives a bill from the Authority for an unpaid open road
toll must take one of the following actions within 30 days after receiving
the bill:of the date of the bill:
(1) Pay the bill.
(2) Send a written request to the Authority for a review of the toll.
(b) Fee. If a person does
not take one of the actions required under subsection (a) of this section
within the required time, the Authority may add a processing fee to the amount
the person owes. The processing fee may not exceed six dollars ($6.00). A
person may not be charged more than forty‑eight dollars ($48.00) in
processing fees in a calendar year. 12‑month period.
The Authority must set the processing fee at an amount that does not exceed the costs of identifying the owner of a motor vehicle that is subject to an unpaid toll and billing the owner for the unpaid toll. The fee is a receipt of the Authority and must be applied to these costs."
SECTION 5. G.S. 136‑89.216 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑89.216. Civil penalty for failure to pay open road toll.
(a) Penalty. A person who
receives one two or more bills for unpaid open road tolls during
the first or second six‑month period in a year and who has not paid
the amount due on those bills within 30 days after the end of the six‑month
period is subject to a civil penalty of twenty‑five dollars ($25.00).
The period from January 1 through June 30 of a year is the first six‑month
period in a year, and the period from July 1 through December 31 is the second
six‑month period in a year. Only one penalty may be assessed for in
a six‑month period.
(b) Payment. The
Authority must send a notice by first‑class mail to a person who is
assessed a civil penalty under this section. A person who is assessed a civil
penalty must pay the unpaid toll for which the civil penalty was imposed, the
amount of any processing fee due, and the civil penalty within 30 days after
receiving the notice.of the date of the notice.
(c) Penalty Proceeds. A
civil penalty imposed under this section is payable to the Authority or, if
collected when a vehicle registration is renewed, to the Division of Motor
Vehicles of the Department of Transportation. Authority. The clear
proceeds of a civil penalty imposed under this section must be credited to the
Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund established in G.S. 115C‑457.1.
The guidelines used by the Office of State Budget and Management to determine
an agency's actual costs of collecting a civil penalty and the clear proceeds
of the civil penalty apply to the determination of the clear proceeds of a
civil penalty imposed under this section."
SECTION 6. G.S. 136‑89.217 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑89.217. Vehicle registration renewal blocked for unpaid open road toll.
(a) Registration Block. Failure of a person to pay an open road toll billed to the person under G.S. 136‑89.214, any processing fee added under G.S. 136‑89.215, and any civil penalty imposed under G.S. 136‑89.216 is grounds under G.S. 20‑54 to withhold the registration renewal of a motor vehicle registered in that person's name. The Authority must notify the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of a person who owes a toll, a processing fee, or a civil penalty. When notified, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles must withhold the registration renewal of any motor vehicle registered in that person's name.
(b) Collection by
DMV. A person whose motor vehicle registration renewal is blocked under this
section may pay to the Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation
the amount owed for unpaid tolls, processing fees, and civil penalties due
under this Part when renewing the vehicle registration. The Division must remit
to the Authority the amount of tolls, fees, and civil penalties collected. The
Division's costs of collecting tolls, fees, and civil penalties are considered
a necessary expense of the operation of the Authority, and the Authority must
reimburse the Division for these costs."
SECTION 7. G.S. 136‑89.218 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑89.218. Procedures for contesting liability for unpaid open road toll.
(a) Informal Review. A
person who receives a bill for an unpaid open road toll and who disputes
liability for the toll may contest the toll by sending to the Authority a
request for review of the toll. The person may include a sworn affidavit
described in G.S. 136‑89.212 that establishes that someone else had
the care, custody, and control of the motor vehicle subject to the toll when
the toll was incurred. The person must send the request for review to the
Authority within 30 days after receiving the bill for the toll. of
the date of the bill sent by the Authority. A person who does not send a
request for review to the Authority within this time limit waives the right to
a review. If a person sends a timely request for review to the Authority, the
Authority may not collect the disputed toll and any processing fee added to the
bill for the toll until the conclusion of the review process in this section.
(b) Administrative Hearing. If the Authority conducts an informal review under subsection (a) of this section and determines that the person who requested the review is liable for the toll, the Authority must send the person a notice informing the person of the Authority's determination. The person may contest this determination by filing a petition for a contested case hearing at the Office of Administrative Hearings in accordance with Article 3 of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.
(c) Judicial Review. Article 4 of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes governs judicial review of a final decision made in a contested case authorized under subsection (b) of this section."
SECTION 8. This act becomes effective December 1, 2010.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of July, 2010.
s/ Walter H. Dalton
President of the Senate
s/ Joe Hackney
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
Governor
Approved 5:15 p.m. this 21st day of July, 2010
