NEWBURGH HEIGHTS, Ohio — There’s one piece of mail that no one looks forward to opening: A citation for speeding.
But thousands have been the recipient of those letters from local communities like Newburgh Heights, Parma Heights, and East Cleveland to name a few.
Over the years, state lawmakers have tried to curtail the use of automated traffic cameras, but courts have sided with municipalities at every stop.
This year, legislators and Governor Mike DeWine tried to change language on where the money for automated tickets ends up by passing specific language in House Bill 62, the state’s transportation budget that went into effect on July 3rd.
Under the new rules, state money given to local governments would be reduced dollar-for-dollar by the amount of fines collected by traffic cameras. The city issuing speed tickets would also have to pay court costs on every ticket whether the case goes to court or not.
That means a city could lose money if enough tickets aren’t issued. In the meantime, Parma Heights decided to shut down its camera program. But others like Newburgh Heights are putting up a fight.
“All of the provisions, we are convinced and believe, are unconstitutional and violate municipalities home rule right,” said Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins.
He believes his city and other should be allowed to enforce traffic laws as they see fit. In the case of Newburgh Heights, this means using automated systems, as well as officers who take photos of speeders and send a photo of the violation by mail.
Elkins says Toledo has already successfully stopped the state from withholding local government funds, but his city filed suit as well to back them up.
“Even before the law took effect, it was put on hold,” Elkins said of Toledo’s court filing. “We followed up because we think it’s important that the more courts and the more municipalities who raise their voice to defend home rule, the better.”
Newburgh Heights generates roughly $2 million dollars annually from its photo enforcement program. That money supports police and fire crews in the city and the costs for them to operate. He estimated the city receives $100,000 annually from the local government fund, meaning their camera program would easily offset the loss from new rules. But according to Elkins, that’s not up to the state to decide.
“The Supreme Court has ruled in the favor of the municipalities on three occasions the last three years, virtually. We fully expect that trend to continue given precedent,” Elkins said.
We spent time with an officer posted near I-77 looking for speeders. Within 10 minutes, he already caught five. Officer Joe LaVaglio says speeders must be at least 14 mph over the speed limit to trigger the system (10 mph on city streets).
LaVaglio says speeders are easy to spot.
“I could tell he was over excess of speed limit so I clocked him 77 mph in a 60 [mph zone],” said LaVagalio after taking a photo of a car driving by. “Just the way he was moving with the other flow of traffic.”
Even with a generous policy for writing tickets, lawmakers still try to slow cities down when it comes to enforcement. Elkins believes those at the statement are driven by complaints from speeders instead of logic.
“People don’t like getting caught speeding. That’s really what this is about. So, it’s a politically charged issue,” Elkins said. Instead, Elkins says he is driven by safety statistics.
“It is the number one cause of accidents, fatalities, and other issues on the highways.”
And for the record, he asserted the program is not a money grab, since his city wouldn’t cash in if drivers simply follow the law.
“We don’t generate any revenue from anybody who doesn’t violate a traffic law,” said Elkins.
He also says he doesn’t feel bad about policing the interstate because it’s his taxpayers who are responsible for responding to the scene of accidents and other incidents if they occur on the interstate.
It’s the taxpayers of Newburgh Heights that pay for sending that fire truck, or that police car to [Interstate] 77,” a daily occurrence according to Elkins.
For now, Newburgh Heights Police will continue to operate business as usual. And when it comes to the state withholding local government funding, Elkins since that’s an issue that could take more than a year to resolve.