21-03-2025
Safety or money grab? Budget tackles local camera tickets
VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKBN) – A new measure in Ohio's Transportation budget could put an end to speed cameras, nixing a department's ability to send a driver a ticket in the mail for a violation captured on a traffic camera.
The measure sits on Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's desk that would toss out a county or township's ability to utilize speed cameras to enforce traffic laws.'I've had hundreds of people — and probably over the last five or six years in my time in the legislature, it's probably upwards of thousands. The number one thing people are tired of is getting tickets in the mail,' said State Senator Al Cutrona, R -33rd District. The transportation budget, if passed, would prohibit all Ohio counties and townships from operating traffic-camera programs, excluding cities because they operate under Home Rule.'The governor has the ability to line-item veto. So for those communities with police and safety services, I would encourage them to reach out to the governor's office and ask him to line-item that portion of the bill,' said State Representative Nick Santucci, R-64th District.
In 2015, the state legislature passed a law requiring a law enforcement officer to be stationed near a camera to issue fines. The budget bill that challenges their use is receiving push-back from local townships in Trumbull County who rely on the cameras as a source of revenue.
In Vienna, the cameras have been used as a lifeline out of a dire financial crisis.
'It just seems like Columbus continues to beat on the townships,' said Vienna Township Trustee Phil Pegg. 'Vienna Township was in a position where we did not have enough money to run the township due to our ongoing legal problems, but this was the only option we had.' But that's where Cutrona draws the line, saying the speed cameras shouldn't be used as a source of revenue. and calls into question their use for public safety.
'If it's really a public safety concern, law enforcement should stop the infraction,' Cutrona said. Right now, the transportation budget hasn't been signed by DeWine. Cutrona expects that to happen soon. He also says he doesn't anticipate the governor nixing the item via a line item veto.
There are three townships that utilize the speed cameras here in the area — Vienna, Weathersfield and Liberty, all of them in Trumbull County. The measure would eliminate their ability to ticket drivers for violations, cutting a huge source of funding for each township.
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