Draconian measures in Florida
Don't mess with Sarasota County -- from
theNewspaper.com: A journal of the politics of driving:
Florida County to Seize Homes with Red Light Cameras
Sarasota County, Florida hopes to seize homes from the owners of vehicles accused of not paying a red light camera ticket.
The Sarasota County, Florida Board of Commissioners unanimously voted on Tuesday to move forward on a proposed ordinance authorizing the seizure of the home belonging to anyone accused of not paying a red light camera ticket. The commissioners must now hold another public hearing and vote on the issue before beginning the process of installing the cameras.
"Failure to pay any amounts provided for under this article may result in the filing of a lien against the property of the registered owner," the proposed red light camera ordinance states. "Such lien shall be subject to foreclosure as provided by law."
A bit more on the reasoning behind this maneuver:
Like several other Florida communities, Sarasota County intends to install red light cameras even though the state legislature has refused to authorize their use. Without the ability to suspend drivers' licenses and registrations -- which would require state support -- county officials saw home seizure as the only realistic means of convincing residents to pay up. With $2.25 million in annual revenue expected from 18,000 citations, the county wanted to take no chances with non-payment.
But the county is risking legal challenge. Both the state attorney general (view ruling) and Florida Department of Transportation (view ruling) have ruled that photo ticketing is illegal in Florida. The largest photo enforcement vendor in the US even took a swipe at its competitor, American Traffic Systems, for operating cameras in violation of the law.
It will probably get shut down but there is no telling how much cash they will be getting before it is down or what penalties they will have to pay for circumventing the state law. Sounds like someone should loose their job for this...
Posted by DaveH at August 29, 2008 8:15 PM