DENVER - Administrators behind the E-470 toll road appeared before lawmakers to answer questions about high collection bills for delinquent payments and toll money going to massages for employees.
The E-470 executives appeared before the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday at the Colorado Capitol building for an informational briefing.
9Wants to Know reported in November how toll money paid for a professional massage therapist to visit E-470 offices and how some board members traveled to conferences all over the world. Toll money also covered a stay at a Ritz Carlton and other luxury hotels.
High fines and surprise big collection notices
9NEWS has been repeatedly contacted by viewers who say they were hit with large collection notices from E-470 without receiving a bill.
In some cases, E-470 was seeking to collect more than $10,000 from delinquent drivers who expressed frustration about never receiving notice from the tolling agency.
E-470 administrators assured the committee that delinquent penalties have been drastically reduced since last fall and that massive collection notices should no longer be problem.
Late last year, the board that governs E-470 voted to administer a $25 late fee per delinquent notice rather than a $25 penalty for each delinquent transaction.
Massages for E-470 employees
E-470 expenditures reviewed by 9Wants to Know show a professional massage therapist was paid $13,000 over three years to make monthly visits to E-470 offices.
In November, 9Wants to Know questioned whether the massage therapist was a legitimate government expense as the agency hit customers with massive collection notices while raising toll rates.
During Tuesday's committee meeting, John McCuskey scoffed at the 9NEWS report when asked about the massages and says the massages have been eliminated for a different wellness program.
"The executive director at that time thought it would be a good benefit for employees," McCuskey said. "Stress release. Make them better employees. We didn't call it wellness so much then, but really, that's what it was all about."
During the committee meeting, Senator Linda Newell said she believed the massage therapist was a legitimate business expense.
E-470 is managed by the E-470 Public Highway Authority and is a political subdivision of the State of Colorado.
E-470 collected 110-million dollars in tolls in 2011 and is expected to continue to collect tolls until the year 2041 when the agency is expected to pay off its billion dollar debt.
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