Nov 15, 2006 10:49 pm US/Central
Tollway Violators Rack Up Millions In Unpaid Fines
by Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Some North Texans have racked up thousands of dollars in violations for failing to pay tolls. North Texas Tollway Authority officials say, each day, there are about 25,000 violations.
Mike Morrison, of Plano, uses the toll roads often. "As long as I'm paying my 75-cents every time, I shouldn't be held accountable for other people who don't want to," he says.
NTTA Spokeswoman Donna Huerta says simply put, "It's stealing."
The NTTA tracks violators by taking pictures of their vehicles' license plates as they drive through the toll plazas. Getting tag information off of motorcycles has been a bit more difficult, the agency says some cyclists have tried to avoid paying by covering their license plates with their hands.
CBS 11 News wanted to find out who the biggest violator was. According to the NTTA that 'honor' goes to Blair Williams.
CBS 11 News tracked Williams down as he was driving out of his Garland apartment complex. Our news team relayed the information that he was said to owe $62,000 in tolls. Williams responded, "I've already made a deal with them and they dropped it to $10,000." According to Williams' attorney, James Whalen, the two are still negotiating.
Williams faces nine citations, which are Class 'C' misdemeanors.
So how did Williams' violations it reach $62,848 in the first place? The NTTA says Williams went through the toll plazas without paying more than 2,431 times, for a total of $1,823 in unpaid tolls.
Take into account the violations and the $25 administrative fee for each violation and that adds up to $62,848.
Whalen acknowledges his client has, "a lot of violations." He says Williams bears some responsibility but that the man didn't realize he was racking up toll violations.
Williams says he moved without notifying the NTTA and that his credit card expired. NTTA officials say bills were sent to Williams' address, but his attorney says it was the old one.
"We don't want to harass anyone. We want people to know we're serious though," said Donna Huerta, NTTA.
NTTA says most violators pay up, but if the agency can't track them down, they send the matter to a collection agency and if there's still no action, the Texas Department of Public Safety issues violators a citation, a Class 'C' misdemeanor and takes them to court. If the violator doesn't show up before a judge, a warrant is issued for their arrest.
Ideally the NTTA says they like to have issues resolved within 30 days, but the process isn't perfect.
The NTTA says its number one consumer complaint is that its too lenient on toll violators. "I just think they can do more to catch the people from running through," said TollTag user, Mike Morrison.
Currently the total amount of unpaid NTTA tolls is nearly $1.5 million. Consider the violations amount and add administrative fees and NTTA says each year, it tries to collect about $49 million.
NTTA records show the rest of its top ten violators are:Jessica Woodworth, Dallas County, reportedly owes $59,510.20 in tolls and fees.
Daniel Burzinski, reportedly owes $47,144.10 in tolls and fees.
Raul Martinez, reportedly owes $46,555.65 in tolls and fees.
Alicia M. Herron, reportedly owes $46,137.05 in tolls and fees.
Cedrick A Record, Dallas County, reportedly owes $44,562.85 in tolls and fees.
Sonia Gonzales, Dallas County, reportedly owes $44,153.10 in tolls and fees.
Jerry Boysen, Dallas County, reportedly owes $43,697.45 in tolls and fees.
Latonya M. Johnson, Dallas County, reportedly owes $38,364.90 in tolls and fees.
Jack L. Robertson, Dallas County, reportedly owes $36,452.45 in tolls and fees.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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