Ok now the headline says one thing and the story says another. Before I go any further, I want to make something very clear, I have no problem with employees having perks, or benefits that are unique to the company, that is one of the things that makes each different potential employer unique. However when those benefits are abused, then things need to be looked at and for that I applaud the Toll Road Authority. Read the whole story and let me know what you think...
More than 1,000 Harris County Toll Road Authority employees have lost their free EZ Tag privileges as agency officials review their policy of giving the perk to other county employees and public agencies.
Authority employees heading to work sites still will be able to drive on the toll roads without paying, but will have to stop and sign for the privilege at toll booths.
Commissioners Court took away the perk Tuesday and asked toll road officials to review whether the county should be giving as many as 5,500 free EZ Tags to county officials, police and fire departments, the FBI and others in public safety.
Also Tuesday, the court formally rescinded a June 19 vote to raise tolls from $1 to $2.50 on the Westpark Tollway — which allows only vehicles with EZ Tags — during peak hours.
Two days after the vote, following intense criticism of the congestion pricing plan by many tollway users, County Judge Ed Emmett announced the court would reverse its decision at its next meeting.
Emmett said he and other court members were pleased to get the public's reaction to the original decision. Based on such feedback, court members knew that most tollway users do not support peak-hour pricing, he said.
"I don't mind a public discourse of, 'Is this the right thing to do? Is this the wrong thing? ' " he said.
The court, however, stood by its decision to increase tolls by 25 cents throughout the pay road system. The increase will go into effect Sept. 3.
The increase, officials said, will boost toll road revenues about $65 million a year. The toll road authority said the higher rates were needed to pay for maintenance and build six new toll segments estimated to cost $4.4 billion.
"The across-the-board rate hike was necessary because it will allow for the development of other toll roads," Emmett said. "The problem with congestion pricing is that it wouldn't work if people who were forced off the tollway didn't have anywhere else to go."
Questions about the free EZ Tags arose last month amid public outcry over the county's short-lived plan for congestion pricing on Westpark.
Art Storey, director of the county's Public Infrastructure Department, said EZ Tags issued to toll road employees were to be used only for work-related trips. He said he was unsure whether employees violated that policy, a matter he suggested the county auditor's office may examine.
The auditor's office is conducting an audit of the toll road authority following revelations last month that the agency solicited donations from contractors and vendors to pay thousands of dollars for parties and SplashTown outings for authority employees.
Officials said agency employees collected nearly $60,000 from about 31 companies that had contracts with the toll road authority. About $45,000 of that was spent on a Splashtown outing for authority employees in June 2006. The remaining $15,000 was kept in a non-county bank account.
Toll road authority director Mike Strech was forced to resign about 6 weeks ago, and his executive assistant, Diana Wilcox, was fired over the practice that appeared to have gone on for several years.
On Tuesday Storey said toll road authority employees who need to ride on the tollway to reach work sites can do so without paying by signing their names at collection booths.
Others who have EZ Tags can submit expense vouchers for work-related trips, he said.
Storey said EZ Tags are given to law enforcement and county employees to help them do their jobs.
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