HB 1192-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
06/01
HOUSE BILL 1192-FN
AN ACT establishing an E-Z Pass commuter discount.
SPONSORS: Rep. R. Barry, Hills 19; Rep. C. Christensen, Hills 19; Sen. White, Dist 9
This bill establishes an E-Z Pass discount for certain commuters.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2704
06/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT establishing an E-Z Pass commuter discount.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Toll Criteria; Commuter Discount. Amend RSA 237:11, V to read as follows:
V.(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the discount on the established tolls on any of the turnpikes in the system for vehicles using the regional electronic toll collection system shall be 30 percent for passenger vehicles, including motorcycles, and 10 percent for commercial vehicles.
(b) In addition to the discount in subparagraph (a), after a vehicle has used the regional electronic toll collection system at the same toll plaza 16 times in any calendar month, there shall be no charge for any further use of the same toll plaza for the remainder of that month.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
12-2704
10/26/11
HB 1192-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing an E-Z Pass commuter discount.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Transportation states this bill will decrease state restricted revenue by $8,900,000 in FY 2013, $9,200,000 in FY 2014, $9,600,000 in FY 2015, and $9,900,000 in FY 2016, and will increase state restricted expenditures by $250,000 in FY 2013. There will be no fiscal impact on county or local revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Transportation states this bill establishes a commuter toll discount for certain New Hampshire E-Z Pass account holders, whereby once an E-Z Pass transponder is used 16 times at a single plaza over the course of 1 month, all subsequent trips through that plaza during that month are free for the holder of that transponder. The Department states this discount program would be transponder-based, and that only Class 1 transponders (essentially, vehicles with 2 axles) from New Hampshire E-Z Pass accounts, both private and business, would be eligible for the commuter discount. The Department also states tolls charged based on photographs taken of vehicle license plates going through the plazas, so called ‘I-Tolls’, or tolls charged based on lane equipment that registers a different vehicle type from that encoded on the transponder, so-called ‘Class Mismatches’, would not qualify as counting towards the monthly limit, as the commuter discount is transponder based and the proper link between transponder and account could not be discerned in either case. Using these assumptions, as well as an assumed effective date of July 1, 2012, the Department utilized the Jacobs Engineering Group, which also prepares traffic and revenue studies for the turnpike system, to determine the projected decline in revenue as a result of this bill. At current toll rates, that projected decline in turnpike revenue would be $8,900,000 in FY 2013, $9,200,000 in FY 2014, $9,600,000 in FY 2015, and $9,900,000 in FY 2016.
Based on information from ACS, the outside vendor administering the state’s E-Z Pass program, the Department states the implementation of such a discount plan would increase state restricted expenditures by approximately $250,000 in FY 2013, due to necessary programming changes. The Department also states its analysis did not include the effects this decrease in toll revenue could have on its bond covenant coverage ratios, and the effects those ratios would have on future bond ratings and debt services costs.