Delaware begins toll amnesty program starting Oct. 1

(The Center Square) – A new initiative designed to capture money from Delaware’s highway tolling system kicks in Friday, as drivers with unpaid tolls will be given a break at the ticket window.

Senate Joint Resolution 5 was passed this summer, allowing a one-time Toll Violation Amnesty Program to provide a 3-month window for drivers to satisfy toll debt on State Route 1 and I-95. The program ends Dec. 31.

The Amnesty Program, the resolution reads, “will collect funds that the State would probably otherwise never receive. Each year, the Department of Transportation collects over $190 million from over 70,600,000 toll transactions” on both highways.

C.R. McLeod, director of community relations for DelDOT, told Delaware Public Media the resolution allows drivers who have toll violations “a 90-day period to resolve those incurred fees at a reduced price.”

“What the intent of the General Assembly was is really to help folks who may have moved or for whatever reason have not been able to keep track of a violation – to take care of those at a much more affordable cost,” McLeon told the news outlet. “So the overwhelming majority of outstanding tolls are really between one and 10 violations.”

The limited-time program is open to any driver with outstanding toll violations incurred between Jan. 1, 2014, and April 30, 2020.

DelDOT said it will be notifying drivers with violations by mail.

Those wishing to take advantage of the program are permitted to pay one fee plus tolls due instead of the fees and penalties accrued from the toll violation, according to the Delaware Department of Transportation.

Once the amnesty balance has been paid, DelDOT said, the fees and penalties originally assessed in the violation will be waived and the account considered fully satisfied.

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