Some cities finding red-light cameras too costly

Five cities in Gwinnett County have put the brakes on red-light cameras at busy intersections, many saying that even though the cameras have reduced accidents, the service has proved too costly.

Duluth, Lilburn, Norcross, Snellville and Suwanee have either suspended use of the cameras or plan to stop the service altogether.

City officials agree the cameras, which monitor and record red-light violations, are working. Violations, accidents and injuries are down. But so are citations, which help pay for the automated ticketing program that can cost some cities more than $400,000 a year to Norcross-based LaserCraft.

The drop in citations is due, in part, to a state law that went into effect Dec. 31 that mandated a one-second addition to the yellow phase at all camera intersections.

In January 2008, Lilburn had almost 1,500 citations issued at its three intersections with cameras. In January 2009, that figure plunged to about 300, said Bill Johnsa, Lilburn’s city manager.

“Certainly, our high-speed accidents are down, so [the cameras] are working,” Johnsa said. “But when you build your budget around those sources of revenue, it’s difficult.”

The city pays $1,200 a day for the service, on top of expenses for postage and police personnel to review the citations, Johnsa said. This year, the city’s projected revenue, excluding expenses, was $1.2 million. “Based on what we’re seeing now, I’ll be surprised to see $850,000,” he said.

In Snellville, citations at the city’s three camera locations peaked from a high of almost 3,000 in December 2005 to under 500 in February, said City Manager Russell Treadway.

Since the state law was put into effect, the city’s net revenue on red-light cameras has been reduced to zero or less, Treadway said. The city pays more than $30,000 a month for the service and needs almost 700 citations just to break even, he said.

Like Lilburn, Snellville has suspended the program for 90 days as it studies the cameras’ long-term feasibility.

Duluth, which is putting the kibosh on its cameras in May, hopes just to break even on the service this year, City Administrator Phil McLemore said. “We can’t afford to continue to pay for something that doesn’t pay for itself,” he said.

In January, Suwanee suspended use of its cameras indefinitely. Mayor Dave Williams stressed their presence was never about generating revenue, but increasing safety. “But with the changing of the lights, violations dropped so much that it was going to cost taxpayers a significant amount of money to continue to have those cameras in place,” Williams said.

“We’re going to continue to enforce the red-light laws, but we’re going to have to do it with people,” he said.

Norcross City Manager Rudolph Smith said the city will not renew its contract, which expired in January, because the camera at its one intersection met its objective: to reduce accidents.

“If you met your goal, why would you pay to have something like that?” Smith said. “It was there to make the intersection more safe, and basically that’s what it’s done.”