New Port Richey’s City Manager and City Council voiced disappointment in the falling revenues from the City’s Red Light camera program. Councilman Bill Phillips said the cameras had failed and the program is a “broken.” New Port Richey’s 2013 budget shows the cameras pulled in a net profit of just $59,960, and may soon require the City to fund the program to keep it operational. The cameras were originally expected to generate more than $1 million in revenue for the same time period.

The program funds two part time Police Department employees as well as a number of other costs associated with the program.

City Manager Debbie Manns suggested that she thinks American Traffic Solutions, a third party company in charge of operating the City’s red light system, is in breach of its contract because of the low revenues. Councilman Phillips expressed interest in cutting short the camera program but Manns said that the contract runs to 2016. Ms. Manns said that she has asked for a meeting with ATS officials before paying the company’s invoice for August and September.

Red lights across the state are a divisive issue, and have seen legal setbacks in recent court decisions. A Florida District Court of Appeals judge last week said that it’s illegal for America Traffic Solutions to issue citations to drivers, signaling a huge shift in how the programs are managed. State legislators have also floated multiple bills to ban red light cameras outright in Florida, and in June the Florida Supreme court ruled that cities could not institute new programs after 2010.

Proponents of the red light cameras have said that they make intersections safer, but many of those against the programs have said that they cause more accidents than they prevent.

by Jon Tietz