“We are moving forward with these changes after hearing concerns from the community,” City Manager Tim Riordan told the City Commission as he presented the amendments.
The red-light and speed cameras have generated about 4,700 tickets a month since last August. Each ticket is $85, with the city getting $55 and the private company that runs the cameras $30.
The city now has around $5 million in unpaid tickets.
Unlike tickets written by police officers, the tickets are civil complaints, which means the city has no recourse to collect unpaid tickets other than turn them over to a collection agency. Instead, the city began towing vehicles with two or more unpaid tickets in April. Commissioners have said they have heard both praise and condemnation of the towing policy.
Although the civil complaints from red-light and speed cameras have been upheld by numerous courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court, using towing to enforce civil complaints is being challenged in court. Last week, three residents whose vehicles were towed filed a lawsuit in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court arguing the towing is unconstitutional because it bypasses due process.
The city says the cameras are a safety tool. A Dayton Daily News analysis of city crash data from 1998 to 2011 found that at the 11 intersections with cameras, crashes decreased 40 percent in the years after the cameras were installed. Two other intersections showed little or no change.
“I’d be happy if we didn’t give out any tickets,” Riordan told the commissioners. “We are trying to change people’s behavior for safer streets.”
Critics claim the cameras are simply a revenue generator for the city. In 2011, Dayton collected $640,000 in camera ticket payments. The city has received more than $100,000 in ticket payments each month since September.
Commissioner Joey Williams last month requested the city come up with a payment plan for those for whom the ticket costs were overwhelming. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference also has weighed in, claiming the policy unfairly targets the poor.
The payment plan will be available in the first half of June, Riordan said. The Municipal Court is in the midst of reprogramming its computers for the new plan.
The plan is available to vehicle owners who owe at least $250 in fines.
If the owner agrees to clear the unpaid tickets, the vehicle will be taken off the list. A down payment of $100 or 20 percent of the unpaid fines, whichever is greater, is required. The owner must pay off the fine within 180 days or the vehicle goes back on the tow list.
When the plan becomes operational, owners can sign up at the Municipal Court central payment division counter, 301 W. Third St., between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.
“I’m glad to see this,” Commissioner Williams said. “We need to be sensitive to our citizens. These are all steps toward a greater sensitivity.”
The tow list has 13,375 vehicles with three or more unpaid tickets. The top offenders are a Buick owned by a 29-year-old Dayton woman with 18 unpaid tickets, worth at least $1,530, and a Dodge owned by a 37-year-old Kettering man with 19 unpaid tickets, or $1,615 in unpaid fines.
Raising the minimum to three unpaid tickets shaved 208 vehicles off the tow list from May 14 to May 21.
In addition, another amendment to the towing ordinance sets up an appeals process for owners who believe their vehicles were improperly towed. The new process is to appeal towing only, and not any tickets.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2290 or dpage@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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