Revenue and Expenditure Flows
Organization of the Tolling Revenues
There are currently three separate funds that interact to form the Washington State tolls financial system. Fund 495 is the statewide repository for all Good To Go! prepaid accounts that have not yet been used by the customers. Fund 511 is where monies are transferred if a Good To Go! customer pays a toll on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Fund 09F is where monies are transferred if a Good To Go! customer pays a toll on the SR 167 HOT lanes. As additional tolling projects open throughout the state (such as on the SR 520 bridge) a specific fund will be created for that facility’s revenue and monies will be transferred from Fund 495 to that account as customers use the facility.
The Tacoma Narrow Bridge Fund 511 also receives revenue from the toll booths. As customers without Good To Go! accounts pay in the cash lanes, both cash and credit card deposits are made on a daily basis to Fund 511.
In addition to the toll payments, other revenue generated includes interest earned, toll violations, and transponder sales.
Management of Expenditures
All expenditures related to tolling operations are carefully scrutinized by several WSDOT staff prior to being charged to the appropriate Fund.
Budget authorization for all toll-related funds begins with legislative approval of a biennial appropriation, signed by the Governor. WSDOT cannot spend any monies that are not appropriated through this budget process (284 KB), even if more tolls are collected than projected. The Governor’s Office of Financial Management notifies the Department of Transportation exactly what has been appropriated. The ultimate responsibility & accountability for tracking expenditures and monitoring adherence to the budget resides with WSDOT’s Toll Operations program.
Vendors submit bills to the Toll Operations office, which are then reviewed by fiscal and operations staff to determine if the expenditures are appropriate; meet the conditions of contracts and agreements; and comply with purchasing regulations. If they meet these conditions, they are approved for processing. Once approved, fiscal staff processes the necessary information and payment requests are forwarded to WSDOT’s accounting office in Olympia to generate warrants (state checks).
The Following charts show the different expenditure flows.