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* Press release…
Effective February 6, the Illinois Office of Comptroller will no longer assist municipalities in collection efforts for fines for red-light camera tickets, a system that is both unfair to low-income Illinoisans and the subject of a federal corruption probe.
“My office is taking decisive action in response to unethical arrangements that have come to light regarding the red-light camera industry,” Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza said. “As a matter of public policy, this system is clearly broken. I am exercising the moral authority to prevent state resources being used to assist a shady process that victimizes taxpayers.”
News reports show these tickets fall hardest and disproportionately on minority and low-income drivers. The $100 red-light ticket camera fines can double if they initially go unpaid, and then almost triple, with vendors and private collection agencies in some cases able to keep a portion of the funds the state collects on behalf of municipalities. Loss of a driver’s license can mean loss of a job for some people who can’t afford to keep up with these fines and late fees.
The Chicago Sun-Times quoted one government official who simultaneously acted as a consultant to a red-light company - helping get them contracts with certain towns - saying he gets a cut of the money paid on every such ticket issued in those towns. Several more arrangements like this one have been revealed in other reports.
“This kind of arrangement stinks — it’s plain rotten,” Mendoza said. “It exploits taxpayers and especially those who struggle to pay the fines imposed, often the working poor and communities of color. We can’t continue the practice of municipal employees directly pocketing cash from contracts they arrange.”
Starting in 2012, the General Assembly allowed municipalities and other local governments to use the Comptroller’s offset system to help collect debts, such as court fines, administrative judgments, traffic tickets, etc., generally through withholding of state income tax refunds or other state payments. Historically that offset system has been used to help collect child support, overpayment of benefits, and other types of debt.
In recent years, a growing percentage of these collections have involved red-light camera ticket violations, mainly from Chicago suburbs. The State does not collect for the City of Chicago’s red-light or speeding camera tickets because of controversy over the use of those cameras as well as the reliability of ticket and motorist data provided by the City as part of the administrative process necessary to validate the debts themselves.
An ABC7/Sun-Times story also found most red-light tickets do NOT go to motorists who run through intersections during red lights. They go to motorists failing to come to a complete stop while making right turns on red where such turns are allowed. Many states outside of Illinois ban the use of these red-light cameras entirely.
That means low-income drivers who really count on their state income tax refund can see it nearly vanish if a fine for a relatively minor traffic offence such as failing to come to a complete stop during a right-turn-on-red, triples to nearly $300.
Municipalities are free to hire private debt collectors to go after motorists who have not paid the fines. But Comptroller Mendoza urges all municipalities to take a second look at any contracts with red-light camera companies and determine if those contracts were procured properly in light of recent news reports and criminal investigations concerning the red-light camera industry and its relationship with government officials.
“I think it’s critical that the state’s collection mechanisms should not be hijacked by political insiders to profit from an enforcement system whose integrity is now being seriously questioned,” Mendoza said.
* Sun-Times…
In 2017, the Chicago Tribune reported on controversial efforts by SafeSpeed to install red-light cameras in Oakbrook Terrace — efforts opposed by state bureaucrats but supported by state Sen. Martin Sandoval, whose campaign fund SafeSpeed donated to heavily.
On Sept. 24, Sandoval’s home and offices were searched by the feds, and SafeSpeed was listed on a search warrant.
The feds also seized $60,000 from the home of Oakbrook Terrace’s mayor last fall, according to a federal record that does not explain the origins or significance of the cash.
* More Sun-Times…
Federal agents seized more than $51,000 in cash from a safe found inside Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski’s house last year, according to a just-obtained federal document that indicates authorities are interested in yet another suburban mayor: Oakbrook Terrace’s Tony Ragucci.
Agents seized a whopping $60,000 in cash from Ragucci’s west suburban home late last year, the document shows, though it does not indicate whether he’s being eyed as part of the same political corruption investigation that’s been rocking local governments. […]
The federal document also reveals that $9,720 in cash was seized from Sandoval’s Chicago house. His home and state offices were raided Sept. 24, and he announced in November he was resigning effective New Year’s Day.
On Sept. 26, federal agents descended on the homes or offices of several suburban officials, including Tobolski, whose county chief of staff, Patrick Doherty, was a sales consultant for SafeSpeed.
* Related…
* Tom Cullerton’s lawyer wants details about ex-Teamsters boss John Coli, calling it vital to his defense: Cullerton landed a job as an organizer for Teamsters Joint Council 25 after his former employer, Hostess Brands, shut down in 2012, Collins wrote. Coli told prosecutors he arranged for Cullerton to get the organizer job that year, “but did not believe the employment was legitimate,” according to the defense attorney. Collins also wrote that media and other public sources indicate “Coli has been involved in numerous instances of improper behavior, including lying to federal officials.” He asked prosecutors for FBI reports or other paperwork documenting interviews with Coli, as well as “correspondence with counsel for Mr. Coli” to learn of benefits Coli received from his cooperation agreement, he said.
* Amid sweeping federal investigation, panel begins work to overhaul Illinois ethics, lobbying laws: “In regard to the recent federal cases, I think it’s just important to remember that those things for which some elected officials have been indicted are already crimes,” said House Majority Leader Greg Harris of Chicago, a co-chairman of the commission. “However, other circumstances in those investigations have revealed other situations not currently addressed in law where we have an opportunity to clarify what is right and what’s wrong, what is permissible and what’s prohibited,” Harris said.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:00 pm
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Coli took a guilty plea in July, yet he has not yet been sentenced.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:07 pm
Live the fact that they keep such large amounts of cash in their homes Makes it so much easier to bring in the I R S
Didn’t they at least think of getting a hotel room with lots of shoe boxes?
Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:16 pm
I think the Comptroller has the right intention here, but will municipalities just start using collection agencies to recover fines? That seems infinitely worse than having tax refunds garnished.
Comment by Sox Fan Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:24 pm
Even with today’s low interest rates: it’s difficult to explain to the FBI/IRS or a jury why you would keep $51K in cash at home instead of a bank. Maybe there’s an explanation ?
Comment by Steve Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:39 pm
=== it’s difficult to explain===
It’s a free country.
What, you can *only* keep *this* amount of money or…
I still know of people who don’t trust banks, they ain’t “boomers” and having cash under the mattress is a “thing”
Now, if they can’t account for the cash… and it’s unmarked, non-sequential $20s…
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:44 pm
Regardless of their usefulness, red light cameras have become synonymous with corruption. If the Governor wants to show that he is concerned with corruption, he should push for banning the cameras, except at possibly well documented dangerous intersections. The Comptroller has the right idea about calling red light cameras out, but for meaningful action it has to come from the Governor.
Comment by A Jack Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 12:49 pm
A Jack -
IF the intersection is that dangerous, make the red light tickets regular tickets run through the court system, reported to SoS and insurance companies, etc.
Comment by Anyone Remember Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 1:13 pm
Can someone please explain to me how red light cameras are “a system that is both unfair to low-income Illinoisans”.
I get that the red light cameras are full of corruption and that they are really a revenue generator and not to protect public safety.
But is there evidence to say that there are more cameras in poor areas than in wealthier areas. The systems in general are non-discriminatory. You run a red light, it records your plate, it sends a notice of violation to the owner of the vehicle. Do low income individuals run more red lights than high income individuals?
Comment by Unionman Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 1:40 pm
Unionman, I think the unfairness comes in the inability of low income residents to pay exorbitant fines in the name of “public safety”.
While I loathe paying a red light camera ticket, I’m not in danger of not being able to pay rent if I get one.
Comment by Sox Fan Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 2:03 pm
@Unionman. From ProPublica: “Ticket debt piles up disproportionately in the city’s low-income, mostly black neighborhoods. Eight of the 10 ZIP codes with the most accumulated ticket debt per adult are majority black, according to a ProPublica Illinois analysis of ticket data since 2007 and figures from the U.S. Census. Those neighborhoods account for 40 percent of all debt, though they account for only 22 percent of all the tickets issued in the city over the past decade — suggesting how the debt burdens the poor … Tickets for red-light camera violations — issued when drivers turn illegally or run through a red light — make up the greatest number of all citations.” https://features.propublica.org/driven-into-debt/chicago-ticket-debt-bankruptcy/
Comment by Abdon Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 2:36 pm
Greg Harris should be praised for talking about some sort of ethics reform because some situations might not be so clear. I hope there’s state wide legislation by the end of the year.
Comment by Steve Monday, Jan 6, 20 @ 3:24 pm
Noticed the Comptroller didn’t mention that she planned on returning the $ 16,500.00 in campaign contributions she received from Zollar & Triad (Red Light Camera companies ). She also acknowledged voting FOR the Red Light Camera legislation as a State Rep that is in an ” unethical space”, ( Her words) As per today’s Tribune.
Comment by South Side Sam Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 7:24 am
SafeSpeeds/Zollar/Triads federal campaign contributions are just as interesting as their state and local contributions. Zollar, an Illinois resident, with IL based company and clients, for years, has donated to only IL candidates, donated over $10K to Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of CA and two of his PACs……
Comment by Sydney Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 6:59 pm