Not so fast – red light camera!

Photo by Travis Smith.

William Garfield

The Signal

On Nov. 2, 53 percent of voters in Houston cast their ballots against Proposition 3, an amendment to the City Charter regarding whether the use of cameras to enforce runners of red lights should cease or continue.

The election results were certified Nov. 15, and the 70 red light cameras in Houston were shut down at 10 a.m. that same day. Now the legal wrangling begins.

The contract between Houston and American Traffic Solutions, Inc., the owner and operator of the red light cameras, does not expire until 2014.

Many Houstonians are left wondering who will pick up the tab on the remaining balance of a termination fee for the cameras estimated at an approximate $677,000 to $1.5 million, depending upon with whom you speak.

“Each camera costs $70,000 to $100,000 depending on the   intersection and the technology,” said Charles Territo, vice president of communications for ATS.

Now, Houston Mayor Annise Parker has to adjust the $10 million shortfall in revenue generated from tickets issued via red light cameras to the  Houston Police Department’s annual budget. She said she plans to generate revenue by enforcing unpaid red light tickets and encouraging officers to write more tickets. Citizens are concerned for police officers and firefighters’ job security, but Parker said lay offs would not occur.

“All tickets issued until 10 a.m. today (Nov. 15) as far as we are concerned are active and collectible,” Parker said.

Red light citations issued carry a fine of $75. The city wants to remind people that it plans on collecting in the excess of $25 million of unpaid camera tickets. Failure to pay these tickets results in an additional late fee of $25.

“I am worried that the message gets twisted into – well, you can run a red light and you will not have to worry about it, and that is not the case,” Parker said.

Mike Kubosh with the Citizens Against Red Light Cameras, said that the contract between Houston and ATS states that Houston is required to provide ATS with a 120-day cancellation notice of its intent to cease and discontinue use of the red light cameras.

“No one is crying over the lives that are going to be lost, it is about the money being lost,” Kubosh said.

As a defensive measure in anticipation of being sued for breach of contract by ATS, the City of Houston has announced that they have filed a civil action, “Complaint for Declaratory Judgment,” wherein Houston is complaining about the interpretation of the contract it has with ATS.

“The contract (with ATS) did have a 120 day termination clause in it,” Parker said. “We want to avoid, if at all possible, having to pay damages to ATS during this period.”