An Act To Simplify Toll Discounts and Amend Certain Powers and Procedures of the Maine Turnpike Authority
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1623
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: COLLINS, PEOPLES, DIAMOND, CUSHING, HOGAN, MAZUREK, MOULTON, SARTY
Amends: 23 MRSA §1963, 23 MRSA §1973, 23 MRSA §1980

Legislative Document 
No. 1623 
S.P. 533 
In Senate, December 20, 2011 
An Act To Simplify Toll Discounts and Amend Certain Powers and 
Procedures of the Maine Turnpike Authority 
(EMERGENCY) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 16, 2011.  Referred to the Committee 
on Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator COLLINS of York. 
Cosponsored by Representative PEOPLES of Westbrook and 
Senator: DIAMOND of Cumberland, Representatives: CUSHING of Hampden, HOGAN of 
Old Orchard Beach, MAZUREK of Rockland, MOULTON of York, SARTY of Denmark. 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, electronic tolling has rendered obsolete a 1981 statute requiring the Maine 
Turnpike Authority to offer a specific form of commuter discount; and 
Whereas, the lingering mandate severely interferes with the turnpike authority's 
ability to deploy modern electronic toll systems; and 
Whereas, effective use of electronic tolls is essential to yield greater traffic capacity 
at certain congested turnpike toll plazas; and 
Whereas, an immediate resolution of these issues would permit the turnpike 
authority to offer improved service and simpler discounts to a broader cross-section of 
travelers without requiring them to make quarterly advance payments which might 
otherwise be required before the end of the 90-day period; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  23 MRSA §1963, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. MM, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
§1963.  Maine Turnpike Authority 
In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Maine Turnpike Authority, 
created by Private and Special Law 1941, chapter 69, shall continue continues in 
existence with the powers and duties prescribed by this chapter until the Legislature 
provides for its termination and all outstanding indebtedness of the authority is repaid, or 
an amount sufficient to repay that indebtedness is set aside in trust.  The authority shall 
continue to operate and maintain the turnpike from a point at or near Kittery in York 
County to a point at or near Augusta in Kennebec County, together with connecting 
tunnels, bridges, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges and toll facilities.  The authority 
may operate and maintain other property and assets as are necessary or convenient for the 
construction, operation or maintenance of the turnpike, including, but not limited to, 
connecting tunnels, bridges, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, toll facilities and 
parking lots. 
Sec. 2.  23 MRSA §1973, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1995, c. 410, §§1 and 2, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
4.  Rates.  The rate of toll at each toll facility may be revised from time to time.  A 
reduction in the rates of fees, fares and tolls may be provided to any class of vehicle 
based upon volume of use. 
Sec. 3.  23 MRSA §1980, sub-§2-A, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 2003, c. 
591, §2, is amended to read: 
C.  The following procedures must be followed for the collection of tolls, 
administrative fees and civil penalties under this subsection. 
(1)  The authority shall send a notice of liability by certified first class mail, 
return receipt requested, to a person alleged to be liable as a registered owner 
under this subsection.  The notice must be sent to the address of the registered 
owner on record with the authority if the registered owner is an electronic toll 
collection patron of the authority or, if no such record exists, the address of the 
registered owner on record with the Secretary of State.  A record of the certified 
mailing written statement by the authority that the notice of liability has been 
mailed is prima facie evidence of the mailing of the notice. 
(2)  A notice of liability must include the name and address of the person alleged 
to be liable as a registered owner for the failure to pay a toll under this 
subsection, the amount of the toll not paid, the registration number of the vehicle 
involved, the toll collection facility at which the failure occurred and the date and 
the approximate time of the failure.  The notice must also include the name, 
address and telephone number of the violation clerk responsible for enforcing the 
penalty for the failure to pay. 
(3)  A notice of liability must include information advising the person liable 
under this subsection of the manner and time in which the liability alleged in the 
notice may be contested and the statutory defenses described in paragraph E.  The 
notice must also include a warning that failure to contest in the manner and time 
provided is an admission of liability and a waiver of available defenses and may 
result in revocation of the registration certificate and plates issued for the vehicle. 
(4)  Within 30 calendar days after the date of the issuance of the notice of 
liability, the registered owner to whom the notice is issued must: 
(a)  Pay the amount of the toll for which the person is liable, the civil penalty 
or penalties provided for in paragraph A and an administrative fee of $20 for 
each toll for which the person is liable but has not paid; 
(b)  Send a written dispute by mail to the violation clerk named in the notice, 
as provided by paragraph I; or 
(c)  Request a hearing with the violation clerk named in the notice as 
provided by paragraph J. 
Sec. 4.  23 MRSA §1980, sub-§2-A, ¶G, as amended by PL 2011, c. 302, §17, is 
further amended to read: 
G.  The authority shall notify the Secretary of State, who shall, in accordance with 
Title 29-A, section 154, subsection 6, suspend the registration certificate and plates 
issued for the vehicle involved in the alleged failure to pay if a registered owner: 
(1)  Does not dispute a notice of liability and or pay the tolls, administrative fees 
and civil penalties as required by paragraph C, subparagraph (4); 
(2)  Does not pay the required tolls, administrative fees and civil penalties within 
days of a final decision of a violation clerk as provided in paragraphs I and J;  
(3)  Does not pay the required tolls, administrative fees and civil penalties within 
days of final adjudication of liability under paragraph K; or 
(4)  Does not pay the required tolls, administrative fees or civil penalties within 
days of final adjudication of liability by an away agency with whom the 
authority has a reciprocal collection arrangement under subsection 2-C. 
When notifying the Secretary of State under this paragraph, the authority shall send a 
notice by certified first class mail, return receipt requested, informing the registered 
owner of the pending suspension. 
Sec. 5.  23 MRSA §1980, sub-§2-A, ¶H, as repealed and replaced by PL 2003, c. 
591, §2, is repealed. 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Maine Turnpike Authority enabling law by distinguishing 
between assets that the authority is required to maintain as part of its core mission and 
those that it is merely permitted to maintain as necessary or convenient to that mission. 
This bill eliminates a requirement that the authority provide a commuter discount and 
eliminates a prohibition on imposing variable pricing based on the time of day.  Instead, 
the authority is allowed to provide a reduction in the rates of fees, fares and tolls to any 
class of vehicle based upon volume of use. 
The bill removes a requirement that the authority use certified mail in lieu of regular 
mail to send notices of toll liability, which will provide a cost savings of more than $5 per 
notice.  A written statement from the authority will constitute evidence of the mailing. 
The bill removes a prohibition against assessing an administrative fee for a violation 
by a tractor-trailer combination.  This restriction was imposed at a time when the 
authority lacked capacity to take video images of the front license plate to determine the 
owner of the truck.  Because the authority now takes video images of the front and rear of 
all vehicles, it is able to identify the registered owners of both the truck and trailer and 
charge an administrative fee to the appropriate party.