LEE COUNTY – A discussion about putting automated traffic enforcement revenue into an interest bearing account, quickly turned into a discussion on the legitimacy of the cameras in Lee County.
At Monday’s regular meeting of the Lee County Board of Supervisors, support of the cameras was reiterated by supervisors and a resolution was passed 4-0 to put the revenue being received from speeding citations along the Hwy. 27 corridor into an interest-bearing account.
Board Chairman Garry Seyb has insisted that the funds received from the cameras not be put into the general fund and not be included in the county’s annual budget.
The county has been seeing more than 400 violations per day on the stretch of highway where the cameras are mounted.
Seyb said he doesn’t want the money included in the general fund, because the state could change the program and the revenue stream that follows.
“I had a discussion this morning with one of our state legislators and he expressed that it was still being discussed up there, but they’re looking at some rules around it. The belief is that they will have some rules that are going to end up making their way to legislation specifically targeting safety corridors,” Seyb said.
He said the Lee County Sheriff’s office checked all the boxes when it came to putting the camera system in place.
“I will say again, Sheriff Weber, when he looked at this project, he took the right approach, in my opinion. He went to a safety group in our county, our cameras are in a safety corridor, and it was all run through the DOT prior to anything being put in,” he said. “The checkmarks at this point... it appears that we followed all of them.”
Weber said he was questioned as to why the cameras weren’t put on Hwy 2. He said Hwy. 27 was already marked as a safety corridor and Hwy. 2 was designated after the decision was made. But he said he’s working on an option to help with the Hwy. 2 safety corridor as well.
“We have asked this company to give us a mobile unit for that very thing. To move it around to where there’s trouble spots. We’re not paying for it, so it is being built as we speak. The company is paying for it so we get it when they get it built,” Weber said.
“When it’s up and running, I will be transparent with everybody. Warn the public where it is going to be. Everyone needs to just take a breath. We got this.”
Supervisor Tom Schulz agreed that the sheriff’s department set up the program correctly and is maintaining it well.
“Our sheriff did things the right way. They did the research, they got the approvals, they put together what very well could be the model program for systems going forward,” he said. “This was a program to bring more safety to a very dangerous corridor of travel. We should be proud of what we’ve done, not ashamed of it. This is a positive for the taxpayers and a positive for the people traveling our highways. I applaud the sheriff’s department for doing this and I hope the state’s wisdom allows us to continue to do the right thing for the people.”
Seyb said the funds will be used for what he calls one-time expenses at the discretion of the board.
Revenue from citations minus the vendor’s fee will be deposited in the separate interest-bearing account. At the end of the 3rd quarter of each fiscal year, the county will deposit at least 25% into a County Reserve/Emergency Fund. After that deposit, any overtime expenses incurred by the sheriff’s department for expert testimony will be paid. Also 1% of the fees collected annually will go to Crimestoppers, 1% to the Lee County K9 Association, 1% to Lee County Narcotics Task Force; 1% to Lee County Attorney’s Office, 1% to Lee County Auditor’s office; 1% to Lee County EMS Ambulance, 1% to Lee County Secondary Roads, 5% to Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The additional 88% of the funds, including the interest, may be used at the discretion of the board of supervisors.
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