Secretary Miller seeks technical fix to toll-relief law, urges waiver of Coleman Bridge repayment

Shep Miller, Virginia secretary of transportation, told the Transportation and Public Safety Subcommittee that the governor’s budget includes corrective language and policy changes to the state-funded toll-relief programs in Hampton Roads and a proposed write-off of VDOT internal debt for the Coleman Bridge.

Miller said the budget language will return the Commonwealth-funded expansion of the Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC) toll-relief program to its original intended geography — Norfolk and Portsmouth — and allow the new state-funded component to be used to cover any shortfall in the underlying ERC vendor-funded rebate so participants continue to receive the full benefit. “If the projection indicates the funding will not be sufficient, then we would adjust it as need be,” Miller said.

The existing ERC program provides a 50% rebate on two-axle, transponder-based tolls for qualifying residents; Miller said a second, commonwealth-funded component would offer an additional 50% rebate for households under $50,000. Miller told the panel the program currently has roughly 21,000 enrollees and a monthly average of about 13,000 active participants, and that average monthly credit per user is about $23.95 (figures from the department presentation). He said the program’s average participant makes roughly 18.2 transactions per month.

Miller also urged the subcommittee to waive repayment of outstanding balances that VDOT technically owes itself for the Coleman Bridge project. He said the outstanding internal liability totals about $29.6 million and that the toll-facility revolving account holds roughly $80 million in cash and about $200 million in accounts receivable. Miller said the toll collection system for the Coleman Bridge needs an immediate upgrade that would cost about $6 million and that, because the vendor will soon stop supporting the current system, the Commonwealth would spend that money on hardware it expects to “throw away” shortly thereafter. “I just think it’s a terrible waste of money,” Miller said, explaining his preference to write off the outstanding internal debt instead of incurring new equipment costs.

Miller described several program mechanics: the ERC rebate applies the following day via the EZ-Pass Virginia account and is capped at 14 rebate-eligible trips per week; eligibility originally targeted Norfolk and Portsmouth residents under $65,000 and the newer state-funded component targets households under $50,000. He said the legislature’s earlier drafting inadvertently expanded eligibility to other cities and that the corrected language would restore the original intent.

On debt forgiveness, Miller recommended removing an income restriction that was inadvertently tied to the debt-relief language and said the administration intends to cancel unpaid toll debt in Norfolk and Portsmouth going back to 2012 regardless of current income, and to remove the $40 DMV reinstatement fee for affected registrants.

Discussion points recorded in the transcript included whether the Back Creek Channel dredging is a federal project (Miller said the federal side will pay most of it), the magnitude of enrollment growth in the ERC program, and the operational share of toll revenue spent on toll collection (Miller estimated about 45% of the Coleman Bridge toll was covering operating costs). No formal motion or vote on the proposed write-off or the corrected budget language is recorded in the transcript.

Miller said the administration worked with Senate staff to correct a technical drafting problem that prevented implementation of some toll-relief features and that the amended language in the proposed budget would restore the intent of last session’s policy.

Looking ahead, the secretary said the Commonwealth Transportation Board and VDOT will have authority under the underlying ERC program to make operational adjustments as needed to keep the program functioning within funding limits.

The presentation did not include a formal motion or committee vote on the items discussed; the transcript records Miller answering members’ questions and explaining the administration’s proposals.