STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When it comes to your E-ZPass bill, you can pay the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey now or you can pay up to five times more later.



A Staten Island man is learning that lesson the hard way, after the bi-state agency slammed him with almost $25,000 in administrative fees for allegedly not paying $5,254 in tolls.



Added together, the agency contends Alfred Buono owes $30,204, plus interest, for allegedly trying to beat the authority out of toll money nearly 1,000 times.



Between March 13, 2003, and May 23 of this year, Buono made 998 trips over Port Authority crossings in and out of the borough without shelling out a dime, the agency maintains in court papers filed in state Supreme Court, St. George.



The E-ZPass program allows drivers to cross bridges and tunnels and pay the tolls later via a credit account.



The Port Authority controls the Outerbridge Crossing and Goethals and Bayonne bridges on Staten Island, along with the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels in Manhattan. All six bridges and tunnels link with New Jersey.



Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesman, said the agency has several hundred lawsuits pending against alleged toll scofflaws. He could not immediately say how many are on Staten Island.



"We take the issue of toll evasion very seriously and continue to take appropriate steps to recover the money that is owed to us," Coleman said yesterday.



A woman who answered the door yesterday at Buono's last known address, in Rossville, said he doesn't live there and declined to answer any questions about him. Attempts to obtain his telephone listing were unsuccessful.



Public records indicate Buono is 47.



Coleman said drivers can access ungated E-ZPass lanes even with a lapsed or terminated E-ZPass -- or no E-ZPass at all, for that matter. Cameras photograph the scofflaw vehicle and the Port Authority then tries to collect the fee from the registered owner.



The agency initially sends letters requesting payment and warning of a potential $25 service fee for each toll owed, according to the spokesman. (In Buono's case, the Port Authority tacked on $24,950 in such fees). If those efforts fail, the authority gives the account to a collection agency. If collectors make no progress, the case eventually could be referred to a lawyer for legal action.



Since March 2, 2008, peak-hour tolls have climbed to $8 and off-peak-hour tolls are $6 for Staten Island E-ZPass holders at Port Authority crossings.



Advance records show that for several preceding years, the tolls were $5 for peak hours and $4 for off-peak hours.



The tariff was even lower -- $2.50 per trip -- for Islanders who signed up for the Port Authority Staten Island Bridges discount plan. To achieve that reduction, they needed to make 20 trips over 35 days at the three Staten Island crossings.



The discount plan now costs $4 per trip.

