Once again, state lawmakers are trying to green light new rules for how communities can use speed and red light cameras, especially smaller communities that get a big percentage of their revenue from tickets.
Columbus Democratic Rep. Hearcel Craig is going after communities without mayors’ courts that are running traffic camera programs. He says some violations come with fines in the hundreds to thousands of dollars which he says is “abusive and excessive."
“What we’re looking to do is close those loopholes by capping those fees. At this point enough is enough,” Craig says.
A trio of bills from Republican Rep. Tom Patton of Strongsville would ban traffic-camera use in communities that get more than 30 percent of their revenue from the cameras or have fewer than 200 residents or no fire or EMS services. But the commission that looks over legislation is warning that all these bills could be a problem under the state’s home-rule provision, which allows communities to set certain rules.
