A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to reduce from ninety days to thirty days the time in which the turnpike authority has to send a toll bill and to cap the total amount charged to a person for certain unpaid open road tolls.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑89.214(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Bill. – If a motor vehicle travels on a Turnpike project that uses an open road tolling system and a toll for traveling on the project is not paid prior to travel or at the time of travel, the Authority must send a bill by first‑class mail to the registered owner of the motor vehicle or the person who had care, custody, and control of the vehicle as established under G.S. 136‑89.212(b) for the amount of the unpaid toll. The Authority must send the bill within 30 days after the travel occurs, or within 30 days of receipt of a sworn affidavit submitted under G.S. 136‑89.212(b) identifying the person who had care, custody, and control of the motor vehicle. If a bill is not sent within the required time, the Authority waives collection of the toll. The Authority must establish a billing period for unpaid open road tolls that is no shorter than 15 days. A bill for a billing period must include all unpaid tolls incurred by the same person during the billing period."
SECTION 2.  Article 6H of Chapter 136 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 136‑89.216A.  Maximum amount charged for unpaid open road toll.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the sum total of unpaid open road tolls listed on an initial bill sent in accordance with G.S. 136‑89.214 does not exceed five dollars ($5.00), the amount charged for nonpayment of the bill shall not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00). For purposes of this section, "amount charged" includes any processing fee imposed under G.S. 136‑89.215 and any civil penalty assessed under G.S. 136‑89.216, but does not include any toll, processing fee, or civil penalty owed to another tolling jurisdiction with which the Authority has a valid reciprocal toll enforcement agreement under G.S. 136‑89.220."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2015, and applies to tolls imposed on or after that date.