Financial Matters:
If the City was able to obtain amendments to add the City of Windsor as a designated municipality to Regulation 277/99 (Red Light Cameras) and to the future regulation pertaining to automated speed enforcement the following costs are anticipated:
RLC Program – The City would be required to enter into an agreement with the City of Toronto and the approved vendor. Payment to the program and vendor are done through one payment through the City of Toronto.
The Vendor installs, operates, and maintains the cameras and the system and then charges a monthly fee based on a minimum 5-year contract. Other Municipalities have estimated a yearly cost of $52,000 per camera when the contract is entered during year one. The current contract is currently in year 3 and therefore prorated yearly costs are estimated to be in the range of $80,000 to $90,000, per camera until the end of the current contract. At the end of the 5 year contract, each Municipality may renew or leave the program.
Costs for the use of the Joint Processing Centre are based on the number of locations registered and the number of cameras in use. The value is based on the total number of cameras the processing center issues tickets from.
Costs would be offset by the revenue retained per violation by the Municipality.
Table 2, uses data from the City of London and provides estimated cost and revenue data, per intersection where red light cameras are used. In 2018, the City of London reported total revenue of $923,000, which was generated from infractions from 10 cameras.
Table 2 – Potential Costs / Revenue Estimates / Camera
| Yearly Estimates *based on 1 intersection |
|
|---|---|
| Expenses* | ($52,000) |
| Revenue** | $92,300 |
| Potential Surplus | $40,300 |
*Assumes the City enters into year 1 of the new expansion program **Values are based average City of London reported revenues The City of London has indicated that the initial surplus is expected to reduce yearly as driver behaviour begins to change, to the point that they are preparing for the potential of a deficit to operate the RLC program in future years. Surplus revenue is being put into a reserve fund that can be used to address these potential deficits in future years and for other road safety initiatives such as education and engineering. Should Council move ahead with a RLC program, Administration recommends a similar approach in Windsor whereby a portion of the revenue generated be used for yearly educational costs (~$2,000) and the remainder be put into a reserve. The reserve would be used to fund any POA staffing increases and Traffic Operation program expenses, if determined that the RLC program has become a burden on existing staff, and it would be available to cover the operational costs of the agreement in months where the revenue does not exceed the expenses.