Harris County changes EZ-tag perk for employees

You'll recall another Wayne Dolcefino exposé back in June which brought to light how many Harris County employees were benefiting from "non-revenue" EZ-tags:

In all, the list Eyewitness News got shows more than 5,500 free tags have been handed out

Today, KUHF-88.7 reports that the county is finalizing details of a new EZ-tag policy that will severely limit free use:

While the majority of commuters who use toll roads in Harris County pay about $40 a month for their EZ-Tags, about 500 employees of the Toll Road Authority have what are known as non-revenue EZ Tags that allow them to use the roads for free. Soon, that benefit could be gone if commissioners approve a new policy that would take those EZ-Tags away. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett says there are about 5000 non-revenue EZ-Tags in use, a list that has grown over the years.

[snip]

Commissioners last week postponed a vote on the new policy in order to iron out last minute details on exactly who gets to keep their free EZ-Tags and how they'll be used in the future. State law allows the non-revenue EZ-Tags on marked county vehicles, law enforcement and fire vehicles and for use in military convoys.

"I want to be sure that we take these tags away, that there aren't free EZ-Tags for people who don't deserve them, but that we have a way to monitor and enforce. It doesn't do us any good to have a policy if we can't enforce it."

[snip]

Harris County Department of Public Infrastructure Executive Director Art Storey says the change in policy is not about revenue.

"It's not a cost matter. It's a matter of government going out of its way to avoid any appearance of impropriety no matter how well-justified. If it looks like a special privilege for a government employee its best not to do it in these days of public scrutiny and public suspicion of government."

That is the correct attitude to have, an attitude Metro officials and employees should adopt. Kudos to Wayne Dolcefino for digging into the issue, and to Harris County commissioners and officials for doing the right thing to rectify the problem.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/01/07 07:54 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (2)

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