County approves traffic violation ordinance

RESERVE FUND

If we put it in this other fund, it gives us the ability to react to things as they come up.”

Garry Seyb, Lee County Supervisor

LEE COUNTY – An ordinance that converts moving traffic violations in the county from state citations to county citations passed unanimously Monday.
At the regular meeting of the Lee County Board of Supervisors, supervisors voted 5-0 to approve the reading of the new traffic code ordinance.
Lee County Denise Fraise said she spoke with the sheriff’s office about the number of citations written in the county last year and that number was 1,764.
She said she had also been talking with County Attorney Ross Braden about the range of fines from $45 to something much higher so there was no way to figure out the total number of dollars that could be generated.
Fraise said even at the low end of $45 the new move could generate $80,000 in new revenue and she believes that revenue should be put into the general fund rather than the ATEC (Automated Traffic Enforcement Camera) fund.
Supervisor Garry Seyb said the new ordinance does not preclude the county from using the money in the general fund if that’s what a supermajority of the board voted to do.
“So I just want to make sure that we understand that  this doesn't preclude us from utilizing it that way,” Seyb said.
“But what it does do is it separates out this money to be able to be utilized in the future for any function this board would decide.”
It's not counted in the general fund under the new ordinance. The new funds would be collected and placed in the ATEC fund and would be subject to allocation per the ordinance that governs those funds in Title IV, Chapter 7A.
Per that ordinance, now all funds from traffic violations would go into what is now called the ATEC fund. Then 15% of those funds would go to the sheriff’s department, 15% would go to Secondary Roads, and the remaining 75% would stay in that account accruing interest until the fourth quarter when it would either be used by supervisors or go into a reserve fund.
Fraise said the county has historically put that type of revenue into the general fund.
Seyb agreed that it was an estimate and that’s precisely why it shouldn’t be included in the general fund.
“If we put it in this other fund, it gives us the ability to react to things as they come up,” he said.
“If we just throw it into the sausage making it just gets ground up into that and we have no ability throughout the middle of a budget to affect anything other than going straight to (Budget Director) Cindy (Renstrom).
Renstrom said this would allow her to use those set aside funds for an emergency or something else needed during the year.
“We could use that money rather than taking more money out of the fund balance or general basic. I can see his point,” she said.
Fraise said she sees both sides of the issue.
Seyb said this isn’t taking money from the taxpayers because it doesn’t come from them, it comes from people speeding.
“It’s not a tax because it comes from doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing,” he said.
“So it’s not tied to the property tax you’re paying to run the county.”
Fraise said she wanted to make sure the county was being transparent about the funding. She also said she would prefer renaming the account from ATEC because it is no longer funds being generated by automated speed cameras. Renstrom said she could probably rename the fund.
The ordinance goes into effect when it’s published to the papers of record in the county.
In other action, the board:
• approved a 28E agreement with Des Moines County for use of Portable Temporary Traffic Signal devices. Des Moines County would be responsible for any damage incurred while the devices are being shared with that county.
• approved renewing the county’s Health Insurance program with Iowa Group Health Insurance.
• declared April 2025 Child Abuse Prevention Month.