More spy cameras are on the way

The D.C. government will double the number of photo-radar cameras, increase licensing and parking fees and enforce traffic laws more vigorously as part of a plan to raise non-tax revenue by nearly $47 million next year.

A spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, which has described the city’s administration of the automated-enforcement program as a “shakedown,” says the District has made some progress in addressing the organization’s concerns. But the fact that the additional cameras were first brought to light in a budget document leads to questions about the city’s motives.

“It’s completely backwards to let the dollars drive the decisions about public safety,” says Deborah DeYoung. “Cameras do improve safety when they’re used right. The only issue for us is whether this is a back-door route to a commuter tax the city couldn’t get in the front door.”

Beginning today, police will write tickets to drivers caught speeding in the 600 block of Florida Avenue NE.

Motorists’ fines and fees are projected to raise $21 million as part of an overall plan to boost city revenue by nearly $47 million in fiscal 2005. The plan was outlined in a confidential report that Mayor Anthony A. Williams circulated among D.C. Council members last week.

The Council voted in July 2002 to exempt itself from its own parking regulations. The measure, coming after a year in which traffic enforcement officers had cracked down on illegally parked Council members’ cars, was sponsored by Council member Carol Schwartz and supported by Council members Kevin Chavous, Jack Evans, Sandra Allen, Adrian Fenty, David Catania, Jim Graham, Harold Brazil, Vincent Orange and Linda W. Cropp.

Phil Mendelson, Kathy Patterson and Sharon Ambrose voted no.

The exemption, approved but criticized at the time by Mr. Williams, extended to Council members the same parking privileges enjoyed by members of Congress — including the freedom to park in bus zones, in restricted spaces near intersections, at building entrances and on restricted residential streets. It also freed Council members from having to put money into parking meters.

The biggest single revenue generator will be the introduction of a 1.4 percent streetlight maintenance fee that is projected to raise more than $10 million and will be passed on to consumers through their Potomac Electric Power Co. bills.

The fees also include a projected $1.8 million for doubling the cost of residential parking permits from $15 to $30 for homeowners with one or two cars, $2.6 million for consolidating parking-meter fees at either 50 cents or $1 per hour, and $754,000 for increasing driver’s license fees from $39 to $45.

The Department of Public Works is expected to increase rush-hour towing to bring in an additional $464,000 and improve booting enforcement to raise $1.78 million.

The city will net more than $7.2 million by doubling its fleet of cars equipped with photo-radar cameras from six to 12. However, the projected gross of $13.7 million might be a conservative estimate. The current fleet of six automated radar cameras generated $19.8 million in the 12 months ending February. Since its inception in July 2001, the speed cameras have generated more than $45 million.

Along with the additional speed cameras, the city plans to raise $624,000 by installing 10 more cameras to catch red-light runners, bringing the total of such cameras in the city to 49. Those cameras, first used in August 1999, have raised $25 million.

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