This week, the Illinois Tollway released a list of most prolific toll dodgers on the agency’s website.
The published list comes just one day after Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 1214, giving the Tollway permission to make public a list of violators who owe $1,000 or more.
“Tolls are a significant source of revenue for maintaining and improving our region’s transportation system, and our Board understands that every dollar counts,” said Tollway Board Chair Paula Wolff. “I want to thank members of the General Assembly and the Governor for their support of this initiative, which reinforces the Tollway’s zero-tolerance policy against toll scofflaws.”
The Tollway has taken intentional steps at cracking down on toll dodgers. Last September, the Tollway began filing administrative judgements against toll dodgers. To date, the Tollway has filed 187 administrative judgements and collected close to half a million dollars. In addition, the Tollway has also started to work with the Illinois Comptroller’s office to withhold tax returns from some of the offenders.
“The Tollway is committed to using every option available to us to try to collect millions of dollars in unpaid tolls and fines from delinquent drivers,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur. “Anything less would be unfair to the 98 percent of Tollway customers who pay their tolls on time.”
“I want to thank Governor Quinn for supporting this legislation,” said Lafleur. “If seeing your company’s name on this list becomes an incentive for you to pick up the phone and call us to settle your debt, then we’ve achieved our goal.”
The list, which will be updated quarterly, has the name of 157 businesses that owe money to the Tollway.
“The list includes 47 businesses who owe less than $5,000, 36 who owe from $5,000 to $9,999, 34 who owe $10,000 to $24,999, 17 who owe $25,000 to $49,999, 15 who owe $50,000 to $99,999 and eight who owe $100,000 or more,” the Tollway states.
Tollway officials say they have made numerous attempts at contacting the entities named on the list and have offered them a multitude of repayment and settlement options.
The Illinois Tollways is funded by tollway users and receives no state or federal funding for maintenance and operations.
Violators should contact the phone number listed on their collection agency notices for more information about how to resolve their debt. To view a detailed timeline that includes typical milestones in the collections process for violators who do not pay their violation notices on time, please visit www.illinoistollway.com.
Follow this link to view some some of the crazy lengths people will go to, to avoid paying the toll.