Well, there's a warning for any toll cheats who've crossed through Jersey lines.

The state is coming after you.

A new law enacted by Governor Murphy earlier this month gives New Jersey tolling agencies the ability to collect fines owed by in and out of state drivers by entering into a reciprocity agreement with other states to enforce penalties.

So there is no more skirting it even if you don't live here.

The stakes are high, according to the Murphy administration.

New Jersey is owed more than $100 million by toll cheats.

Budget and finance writer John Reitmeyer is here with more details.

Hey, John.

So you looked into this law that Governor Murphy has now signed.

Lawmakers have been looking at this for quite some time.

How exactly does the deal work?

So the big component of this new law is the reciprocity component, the fact that in New Jersey, either the tolling authorities themselves and we have to think about the New Jersey Turnpike Authority runs both the turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.

And then in South Jersey, the South Jersey Transportation Authority runs the Atlantic City.

So this would include all of them.

Absolutely.

And so what this law and now allows New Jersey to do either the tolling authorities themselves or the Department of Transportation, if they'd like to do it on their behalf, they can set up these agreements with other states and the tolling authorities in those states where it'll kind of be like will collect it or go after your toll cheats while you go after our toll cheats.

And it is big money out there, 117 million in unpaid tolls was estimated for 2020 to the most recent year where they have complete data for.

So you could see why states would want to opt into this.

That's a lot of money sitting out there.

Has it worked in the past?

Do we have any other states examples to look at?

We do.

And that was one of the reasons lawmakers, the sponsors of this legislation, as it went through and made it to the governor's desk, were pointing to other states that were able to collect that money.

You know, some of that is from our own in-state toll cheats.

But there's a big portion that that they're looking at from out of state.

And for example, the New York State Thruway, there was a recent audit in New York that showed they had something over a hundred million in uncollected tolls from out of state motorists using that roadway.

I'm sure some from New Jersey.

So, you know, you could go across the different states and I'm sure you'll see big numbers adding up across the different tolling authorities.

What's the impact when people don't pay their tolls?

Because we hear a lot of people talk about just how expensive it is, how much more expensive it is to drive through New Jersey toll roads compared to other states.

So what's the state missing out on by not being able to collect?

Yeah, it's one of those things where it's almost like with cheating on taxes is for every dollar that's not paid by someone who's evading a toll that shifts the burden onto those of us who are being charged.

And, you know, in the case of the Turnpike Authority, for example, it's not just maintaining the turnpike in the parkway.

The Turnpike Authority is being used as a revenue source these days for NJ Transit.

It's covering New Jersey's portion of the new Gateway Tunnel that's being built under the Hudson River.

And so when tolls aren't being collected from those who are using the roadways, it's a true user fee.

It either shifts that burden onto those of us who who are paying our tolls or it upsets the finances of these types of tolling authorities.

So let's say you do owe a lot of tolls to the state, but you don't have the money to pay for it.

Are they considering that in all of this?

Well, one interesting element of this new law, quickly, is it did create an amnesty program where if you owe more than $500, so so not just somebody who's missed one or two tolls, but if you have a pretty big toll debt added up for a period of time, there will be a up to 25% forgiveness offered.

So maybe an incentive there to try to collect some of these back tolls.

But certainly hardships for people who are using the roadways and can't afford it.

That's something that's a sort of a bigger issue that would have to be considered.

Yeah, for sure.

All right.

John Reitmeyer, a great reporting.

Thanks for sharing it.

You're welcome.