When the Baltimore County Council approved the county's budget last week, it looked as though the speed camera program had doubled.
The budget for the speed cameras did increase from $4.4 million to $8.75 million. But that doesn't mean there will be more cameras or more speeding tickets, according to county officials.
The county is planning to spend money that's been building up in the speed camera account on school security and other public safety expenses, said Ellen Kobler, a county spokeswoman.
A total of $2.55 million that accrued in prior years is being added to an expected $6.2 million in ticket revenue, for the total budget of $8.75 million.
Of that total, $4.32 million is being spent on upgrading school security, buying license plate readers, buying laptops and improving the police firing range, which has been cited for lead contamination. Of those one-time expenses, the largest item is the school security upgrades, at $3.2 million.
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and schools Superintendent Dallas Dance announced plans last fall to spend more than $8 million on school security over the next three years. The upgrades include expanding surveillance cameras, card-entry doors and student ID cards to all schools.
The rest of the budget, $4.43 million, pays for the operating costs of the speed camera program: police officers, employees, office supplies and payments to the camera vendor, Xerox, which gets a cut of the ticket money.
The county expects to collect nearly $6.2 million from speed camera tickets in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That would be down slightly from the current year that ends June 30, in which the county expects to collect nearly $6.7 million.
Despite the drop, speed camera ticket revenue has increased since the program was started in fiscal 2011. That year, the county collected about $2.7 million.
County police Chief Jim Johnson says speed cameras keep roads safe by slowing drivers down.
"There's no question: They are effective in the zone they are placed in," Johnson said.
During questioning at a budget hearing this month, the chief said there are no plans "at this point in time" to add more cameras.
Meanwhile, police continue to assess the program's impact, Johnson said. "We are constantly involved in analysis and study of the cameras. Have we achieved our objective and changed driver behavior in a given zone?"
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