ORANGE COUNTY — The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority wants to spend $163,000 to crack down on people who rack up tolls but never pay them.
OOCEA officials say they need to hire three more full time employees to handle calls and complaints for 89,000 unpaid toll notices.
It will cost $163,000 and that’s on top of the $634,000 the authority will spend next year just in postage, credit card fees, and printing.
The Expressway Authority told WFTV it will now give drivers only two freebies when it comes to blowing tolls instead of three. The agency says it lowered the number of free passes because it wanted to collect more money from toll violators.
Drivers can challenge the notice but some say it’s just easier to pay the fine.
The Expressway Authority says the extra staff is also expected to handle the influx of E-Pass transponder purchases in the coming months. They anticipate more people will purchase the devices once the toll increase goes into effect in July. The increase will only be 10-cents for transponder users, instead of the standard 25-cents.