Suffolk hits the brakes on red-light camera tickets
The county program has ended just as a court ruled the added fees for those tickets are illegal.
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Red-light cameras did not get the green light to continue ticketing in Suffolk County.
"I'm kind of happy about that because sometimes I do come to a full stop and I get them anyway,” said Carol Kelly, of Holbrook.
On top of that, New York state ruled that the additional fees on top of the $50 red-light camera tickets are illegal.
Suffolk had a $30 fee. In Nassau, it was $100. Whether people will get that money back is another story.
"Now, we could potentially owe $160 million back. Hopefully, the courts will negotiate with the people involved and maybe get some of it back," said Republican Legislator Robert Trotta, of Fort Salonga.
Lawmakers with say if you got a red-light camera ticket before Dec. 1 in Suffolk, you still have to pay that fine.
Some Suffolk drivers said they feel safer with red-light cameras.
"It's very dangerous otherwise,” said Werner Buck, of Holbrook.
As News 12 has reported, the program generated $39 million on average per year for Suffolk County. Suffolk legislators say this revenue was not included in this year's budget, so they say there will be no budget fall next year.
In regard to the court ruling on fees on red-light camera ticket, a spokesperson for Nassau says: "The county executive has budgeted for this contingency and the current budget will not be severely impacted by the court's decision."
