CHOKEPOINTS
You’re running out of time to settle your old toll bills
We’ve been warning you since December that the late fees and civil penalties are returning to unpaid toll bills. They haven’t been collected since June of 2021.
Blowing off your unpaid tolls and the late fees and penalties could end with you not being able to register your car.
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You don’t want to end up in that situation, and you’re running out of time to take care of this. The late fees and civil penalties return March 1. The toll division’s Jennifer Charlebois explained what will happen if you blow this off.
“The next bill they receive after March 1st will include a $5 late fee,” she said. “If that bill remains unpaid, the next bill they receive will include notices of a civil penalty. Notices of civil penalties add up quickly. They are $40 per unpaid toll.”
Let’s do some quick math; you’ve been commuting twice a day on 520 and not paying your toll for each trip. That’s 10 trips a week. That’s $400 in civil penalties just for one week. Now calculate those penalties back to June of 2021. That’s thousands of dollars — and you still owe the tolls too.
What happens if you blow that off?
“If notices of civil penalty remain unpaid, that’s when we will place a hold with the Department of Licensing on the vehicle’s registration,” she said.
You can see that you don’t want to be in this situation.
But Charlebois said you can get all those fees and penalties waived if you reach out to the Good To Go! system.
“We will go ahead and provide a one-time fee and penalty forgiveness for them so all fees and penalties can be waived as long as the customer pays their tolls in full,” she said.
Look for any toll bills you might have tossed aside. Check your Good To Go! account, and watch the mail in early March closely. That next bill will outline where you are and what you owe.
And Charlebois said you can even reach out for help then. It’s never too late to take advantage of the one-time forgiveness plan.
You should expect long wait times at customer service as we get closer to the March 1st deadline. A lot of people are going to be calling.
And here’s another quick cheat code for lowering your bill. If you haven’t signed up for Good to Go!, you can do that and have your tolls lowered by $1.75 per unpaid toll.
The clock is ticking.
Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints.
