2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 10 - Highways, Military › Chapter 383 - Tollways › Section 383.009 - Toll Program Fund; sources; uses.

(1) There is hereby established the Toll Program Fund as a separate and distinct fund from the State Highway Fund. The Toll Program Fund shall consist of:
(a) All moneys and revenues received by the Department of Transportation from or made available by the federal government to the department for any tollway project or for the operation or maintenance of any tollway;
(b) Any moneys received by the department from any other unit of government or any private entity for a tollway project or from the operation or maintenance of any tollway;
(c) All moneys and revenues received by the department from any agreement entered into or loan made by the department for a tollway project pursuant to ORS 383.005, and from any lease, agreement, franchise or license for the right to the possession and use, operation or management of a tollway project;
(d) All tolls and other revenues received by the department or tollway operator from the users of any tollway project;
(e) The proceeds of any bonds authorized to be issued for tollway projects;
(f) Any moneys that the department has legally transferred from the State Highway Fund to the Toll Program Fund for tollway projects;
(g) All moneys and revenues received by the department from all other sources that by gift, bequest, donation, grant, contract or law from any public or private source are for deposit in the Toll Program Fund;
(h) All interest earnings on investments made from any of the moneys held in the Toll Program Fund;
(i) All civil penalties and administrative fees paid to the department from the enforcement of tolls;
(j) Fees paid to the department for information provided under ORS 383.075;
(k) Moneys appropriated for deposit in or otherwise transferred to the Toll Program Fund by the Legislative Assembly; and
(L) Moneys received from federal sources or other state or local sources, excluding proceeds of Highway User Tax Bonds issued under ORS 367.615 that finance projects other than toll projects.
(2) Moneys in the Toll Program Fund may be used by the department for the following purposes:
(a) To finance preliminary studies and reports for any tollway project;
(b) To acquire land to be owned by the state for tollways and any related facilities therefor;
(c) To finance the construction, renovation, operation, improvement, maintenance or repair of any tollway project;
(d) To make grants or loans to a unit of government for tollway projects;
(e) To make loans to private entities for tollway projects;
(f) To pay the principal, interest and premium due with respect to, and to pay the costs connected with the issuance or ongoing administration of, any bonds or other financial obligations authorized to be issued by, or the proceeds of which are received by, the department for any tollway project, including capitalized interest and any rebates or penalties due to the United States in connection with the bonds;
(g) To provide a guaranty or other security for any bonds or other financial obligations, including but not limited to financial obligations with respect to any bond insurance, surety or credit enhancement device issued or incurred by the department, a unit of government or a private entity, for the purpose of financing a single tollway project or any related group or system of tollway projects or related facilities;
(h) To pay the costs incurred by the department in connection with its oversight, operation and administration of the Toll Program Fund, the proposals and projects submitted under ORS 383.015 and the tollway projects financed under ORS 383.005;
(i) To develop, implement and administer the toll program established under ORS 383.150, including the cost of consultants, advisors, attorneys or other professional service providers appointed, retained or approved by the department; and
(j) To make improvements or fund efforts on the tollway and on adjacent, connected or parallel highways to the tollway to reduce traffic congestion as a result of a tollway project, improve safety as a result of a tollway project and reduce impacts of diversion as a result of a tollway project.
(3) For purposes of paying or securing bonds or providing a guaranty, surety or other security authorized by this section, the department may:
(a) Irrevocably pledge all or any portion of the amounts that are credited to, or are required to be credited to, the Toll Program Fund;
(b) Establish subaccounts in the Toll Program Fund, and make covenants regarding the credit to and use of amounts in those subaccounts; and
(c) Establish separate trust funds or accounts and make covenants to transfer to those separate trust funds or accounts all or any portion of the amounts that are required to be deposited in the Toll Program Fund.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS 383.001 to 383.245, the department shall not pledge any funds or amounts at any time held in the Toll Program Fund as security for the obligations of a unit of government or a private entity unless the department has entered into a binding and enforceable agreement that provides the department reasonable assurance that the department will be repaid, with appropriate interest, any amounts that the department is required to advance pursuant to that pledge.
(5) Moneys in the Toll Program Fund are continuously appropriated to the department for purposes authorized by this section.
(6) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, a city, county, district, port or other public corporation organized and existing under statutory law or under a voter-approved charter is not required to deposit into the Toll Program Fund tolls, or other revenues are received from the users of any tollway, that are assessed by a city, county, district, port or other public corporation organized and existing under statutory law or under a voter-approved charter.
(7) Moneys in the Toll Program Fund that are transferred from the State Highway Fund or are derived from any revenues under Article IX, section 3a, of the Oregon Constitution, may be used only for purposes permitted by Article IX, section 3a, of the Oregon Constitution. [1995 c.668 §4; 2005 c.22 §264; 2007 c.531 §12; 2013 c.4 §15; 2021 c.630 §136]