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.
Each Municipality that has implemented RLC and is intending to implement ASE has done so along side a public information and communications campaign. It is anticipated that for each program, the initial campaign may cost $20,000 with ongoing yearly educational costs of $2,000.
The costs above are estimates. Should Council decide to move forward with the program, Administration will begin negotiations with the vendor and the City of Toronto. Final costs will be based on these discussions. It should be noted however, that Administration does not recommend entering into the current contract. Rather, if the City of Toronto does successfully procure a vendor for the expansion program, it is recommended that the City begin with ten (10) camera units as part of the expansion program.
The City of Windsor Provincial Offences Office (POA) - Pursuing the RLC or the ASE program may result in additional costs for POA staff (court administration, prosecutors and/or collections). Maintaining adequate staffing will ensure the department upholds its current service levels for processing fines and the court administration of these fines. The request for additional staffing would be dependent on the expected number of tickets generated from RLC and/or ASE. If the volume is low, the impact could potentially be absorbed with current staffing levels.
The Provincial Offences Court in Windsor processes offences that occur not only in the City of Windsor but also in the eight surrounding municipalities. All of the participating municipalities contribute to the costs associated with operating the Provincial Offences Court and are entitled to share in the net revenue from the fines collected. The distribution is based on the annual regional weighted assessment rates for the year the fine revenue is collected. Revenue distribution is not based on the geographical area that the ticket was issued. In order to implement a Red Light Camera program or an Automated Speed Enforcement program the City of Windsor would incur significant costs but would be required to share the revenue with the other municipalities unless an amendment to the Inter-Municipal Court Services agreement was obtained. Alternatively, if the other Municipalities choose in the future to enter into the RLC program, this will also impact the POA office as the City court system would process these additional tickets. The above is also applicable for the Automated Speed Enforcement program, therefore if Council wishes to proceed with a revised agreement, both programs should be included in the wording.