Out-of-state drivers owe Maryland nearly $1 billion in unpaid tolls
By Jeff Morgan
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (WMAR) — The Maryland Transportation Authority has $818 million in unpaid tolls from out-of-state drivers and collecting that money is far from straightforward.
A recent audit found the MDTA currently lacks a recovery process for pursuing those unpaid tolls, an issue that became more widespread following COVID.
MDTA Executive Director Bruce Gartner said the challenge is rooted in the limits of cross-state enforcement.
“Across the board in the toll industry, out of state collections is a challenge because the enforcement mechanisms that we typically have in-state for all agencies isn’t the same.”
Unlike in Maryland, where the state can withhold a driver’s vehicle registration until outstanding tolls and fines are paid, collecting from out-of-state drivers requires cooperation from other states’ motor vehicle administrations.
“With out-of-state, we have to rely on a motor vehicle administration in another state. So simply signing agreements between a state and saying, ‘hey, we’re gonna help each other,’ it’s got to be a lot more detailed than that. It’s about file exchanges, information exchanges,” Gartner said.
Gartner said the MDTA is already in talks with Pennsylvania to formalize a more detailed agreement.
“So we’ve stepped in with Pennsylvania and having much more, um, vigorous conversations about how to get an agreement signed before the end of this calendar year.”
State Delegate Ryan Nawrocki, a Republican from Baltimore County who sits on the Environment and Transportation Committee, is calling for a legislative hearing on the matter.
“We should do hearings with respect to this. Why do we have nearly a billion dollars sitting out there, not understanding what the leadership is doing? Yeah, I’m on the on the Transportation Committee, Jeff. I’m going to ask my chair to convene a hearing on this,” Nawrocki said.
The MDTA said it does not currently believe a legislative change is necessary to resolve the issue.
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