Initiative king Tim Eyman considers the red light photo enforcement cameras mainly as a means for cities to fatten their wallets.
Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis called that “a big crock.” He said cities like Auburn are motivated only by a desire to cut red light running and save lives.
In a recent e-mail titled, “Mayors and City Council members for the cities with red light camera profit centers,” Eyman, co-sponsor of Initiative 985, asked for the amount of money each participating city earns from the fines paid from photo-enforced violations and how much they stand to lose should his initiative pass.
Eyman’s idea is to take the revenue left over after system expenses are paid, revenue that is now deposited in the cities general funds, and put it into a dedicated fund that would pay for the measure’s traffic congestion relief policies. Those policies include fully-funding cities’ traffic light synchronization programs.
The effective date for the policies would be Dec. 4, 30 days after the Nov. 4 general election.
“So revenue that comes in after that date will not longer go into your city’s general fund,” Eyman said. “On that day, the profit motive for having these cameras stops.”
What the city of Auburn would lose, Lewis said in response, is money it now puts toward traffic calming devices such as traffic circles and pedestrian lights.
“There are no other sources of funds for local traffic calming in our cities,” Lewis wrote. “There are no county funds. There are no state funds. There are no federal funds. There are no other sources for neighborhood traffic calming at this time except in emergencies.
“Removal of these funds from the local community will have a direct and immediate effect upon our neighborhoods and our citizens awaiting traffic calming improvements in their neighborhoods,” Lewis wrote.
Lewis noted that the cities of Auburn and Lakewood were the original supporters of the measure to allow the photo-safe devices. He said the cities went to the state Legislature determined to stop deaths and serious injuries caused by red light runners. They also wanted to cut speeding in school zones.
Part of the new state law required each city with the photo-safe devices to post a sign at every intersection with a traffic signal announcing it as a photo safe community.
“The Council was adamant that this was for the safety of our citizens, and for that reason set the fines at the state minimum,” Lewis said. “Since that date, we have seen a 40-percent reduction of accidents at photo-safe and school-zone-covered intersections.”
Running a red light will cost a driver $124; speeding in a school zone will cost $200. The infractions do not show up on the driving record.
Here are the numbers since the system went live June 30, 2006:
• The total number of citations through the end of 2006 was 7,354, and in 2007, 12,796.
• To date in 2008, 7,062 citations have been issued with receipts of $634,670, including $374,990 to Red Flex Traffic Systems of Flagstaff, Ariz, for the cost of continuing the service.
• Other costs are $30,250 for additional court staff, $23,896 for additional judges, $31,249 for additional legal department, $6,639 for additional officer time, and $58,378 for additional administrative work.
After the costs of service are subtracted, some $165,000 will actually be available for use in 2008 in Auburn.
In 2007, the Auburn City Council approved dedicating all net red light enforcement funds to local traffic calming improvements. At that time, the fund balance had not been earmarked for any other use and stood at $480,379.
In 2007 the City Council approved neighborhood traffic calming projects totaling $131,217. To date, the Council has approved and the city has invested $106,130 in local traffic calming projects.
By the end of the year, there will be two more pedestrian light projects installed, for an additional $100,000, bringing the 2008 total to $206,130.
Auburn’s draft 2009-2010 budget shows about $200,000 a year each year in local traffic calming projects from Photo-Safe’s remaining fund balance.
