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BILL # SB 1624 |
TITLE: photo radar enforcement; civil penalty |
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SPONSOR: Gowan |
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PREPARED BY: Ethan Scheider |
STATUS: As Amended by House TI |
SB 1624, as amended by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, limits the fine for a civil traffic violation that results from a photo enforcement system to $75, of which $15 is required to be deposited into the Peace Officer Training Equipment Fund (POTEF).
Estimated Impact
We estimate that the bill’s limitation on photo enforced civil traffic fine amounts would decrease local government revenues by $(13.0) million. Additionally, we estimate that the bill would decrease revenues to select state funds by $(9.3) million. This state level impact consists of decreased surcharge revenue assessed on civil traffic fines totaling $(10.3) and increased POTEF revenues totaling $992,700.
We have asked the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) and the Arizona League of Cities and Towns for their perspective on the fiscal impact of the bill, but are yet to receive responses.
Our estimate assumes the following:
1) Based on publicly available data from the City of Scottsdale and other municipalities, we estimate that base fine revenues collected by localities for photo enforced traffic violations would decrease by $(13.0) million.
- While not every Arizona municipality utilizes photo enforcement, Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe, El Mirage and Paradise Valley currently utilize these systems.
- The typical fine for photo enforced civil traffic violations at these participating cities and towns is about $250. Under the bill, municipal revenues would be limited to $60 per violation.
- The City of Scottsdale’s FY 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report shows $2.7 million in revenues from photo radar fines. Scottsdale’s fines for photo enforced traffic violations range from about $250 to $450. Using a median fine amount of $300, we estimate a total of 9,100 photo enforcement citations are paid annually in Scottsdale.
- According to the City of Scottsdale, there are 11 photo enforcement locations within its city limits. Given this, we estimate that each photo enforcement system location yields an average of about 830 paid citations annually.
- According to public data from the municipalities, we assume there are a total of 80 municipal photo enforcement locations in the state. Using the City of Scottsdale figure of 830 citations per photo enforcement location, we assume that there are about 66,200 photo enforced traffic fines paid in this state each year at the level of $250.
2) The bill would deposit $15 of any photo enforced civil traffic fine to the State Treasurer’s Peace Officer Training Equipment Fund. Given our assumption that 66,200 photo enforced traffic citations are paid each year, we estimate the bill would increase Peace Officer Training Equipment Fund revenues by $992,700.
3) Statute currently imposes surcharges totaling 79% on base fine revenues for traffic violations. Revenues from these surcharges, including the 42% Criminal Justice Enhancement Fund surcharge and a 13% Medical Services Enhancement Fund surcharge, are deposited into various state funds. As such, we estimate that surcharge revenues to select state funds would decrease by $(10.3) million.
3/31/26