Pay the Troll Toll

Deadbeat drivers: TxDOT releases names of 25 top toll violators, all from the Austin area

Some Texas drivers have been ringing up a huge tab on area toll roads such as State Highway 130.

Courtesy photo

Late fees don’t necessarily make you a bad person, but they do make you irresponsible. It’s not like public libraries or the last three Blockbusters in existence are going to publicly list your name for the world to see just to shame you into paying a couple bucks in late fees.

On the other hand, if you happen to owe outstanding fees in the six-figure range, don’t be surprised when you're outed as a deadbeat, especially if you owe that money to Texas Department of Transportation.

It's not too surprising that the Austin area would owe the most in late toll fees to TxDOT, but the size of the bills racked up by some single car owners is shocking.

In an effort to collect a cool $27 million dollars in unpaid tolls and fees, TxDOT has released the names of the 25 Texas residents who owe the department the largest sums, and it just so happens that all 25 reside here in the greater Austin area.

It's not too surprising that the Austin area would owe the most change to TxDOT, considering the concentration of toll roads in the region. But the biggest surprise is the size of the bills racked up by some single car owners.

At the top is a fee of $236,026.32 owed by Pflugerville resident Ronny Lewis, followed closely by a Hutto's Mandy Dyment, who owes $217,619.79. In all, there are 16 individual Central Texas drivers who owe the state more than $100,000.

The purpose of putting names to outstanding fees is to try and shame some of them into beginning to pay back their debts, and it’s all thanks to Texas Senate Bill 1792. Just passed during the last legislative session, SB 1792 authorizes TxDOT to publish names in order to get their due.

But TxDOT doesn’t just rely on hoping to prey on people’s guilty conscience. The department can also ban vehicles from using TxDOT toll roads with Texas Transportation Commission approval.

If stopped by law enforcement, vehicles in violation of the ban can be ticketed and impounded. They can also report violators to county tax assessor-collectors to potentially block the renewal of the vehicle’s registration.

If your name just so happens to appear on this list and you want to avoid an awkward conversation with your neighbors, you can call the TxTag Customer Service Center at (888) 468-9824 from 8 am – 7 pm on weekdays. You might not have to pay your exorbitant fee immediately, since TxDOT can offer a negotiated settlement amount or a payment plan.

Or you can just avoid taking responsibility, run off and begin a new life under a new name in New Hampshire or wherever you can't be reached by the long arm of TxDOT.

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Shelter to Service

Dripping Springs nonprofit trains service dogs rescued from shelters

Photo courtesy of KVUE

The group estimates that it's gotten more than 1,000 dogs out of the shelter system.

For the past 35 years, a service dog training nonprofit in Dripping Springs has transformed unwanted dogs into essential partners for Texans living with significant challenges.

Sheri Soltes, founder and CEO of Service Dogs, Inc., says the dogs they train help serve people with hearing or mobility disabilities. The canines also comfort those enduring traumatic events.

In a time where most animal shelters in Central Texas are over capacity, Service Dogs, Inc. is handing out second chances to pups with potential to make a difference in people’s lives.

“They're sort of like the cousins to guide dogs,” Soltes said. “Except we're unique because we get our dogs from animal shelters instead of having a breeding program. So we help the dog and we help the person.”

She says the nonprofit can’t adopt every dog because the pups must meet specific qualifications, narrowing down from their age to their temperament.

Soltes says dogs must be at least a year and a half old in order to be X-rayed to assess their health, must be extremely people-oriented and should be comfortable being in public settings.

She says Service Dogs, Inc. may bring back one out of 500 dogs in a shelter.

“We've probably trained well over a 1,000, probably closer to 1,200 dogs by this time over 36 years. Any dog that we adopt from a shelter, if it doesn't complete the training, we don't take it back to the shelter, will find it a good pet home. So, they're going to win either way with us,” Soltes said.

Depending on the pooches’ temperament and personality, they’ll be trained in any and all of four programs available.

Soltes says the nonprofit trains the canines to be hearing dogs that can alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They could be trained for people with mobility disabilities, learning to open and close doors or steady someone’s balance.

She says they also train dogs to work in areas devastated by catastrophic storms, in courthouses in the victim's assistance departments or with first responders struggling with their mental health.

“They're not always the right tool for every kind of job, but they're very, very helpful,” she said.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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