Phoenix votes against extending contract for red light, speed cameras

PHOENIX — Phoenix City Council narrowly voted down a measure to extend a contract for red-light and speed-enforcement cameras this week.

Councilman Sal DiCiccio was one of the five “no” votes out of nine at the Wednesday meeting.

“(The cameras are) just part of this continuous money grab,” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Friday.

“The garbage fees are going up, the new Uber tax … the water rates have gone up, the property taxes are about to go up, so it’s just one constant dribble.”

The measure would have approved an additional $800,000 to extend the contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, which was initially awarded in October 2014, through Dec. 31, 2020.

The current contract expires at the end of the year. It is unclear if the council plans to approve a new contract for the cameras before then.

According to the meeting’s agenda, the city’s Photo Enforcement Program has generated more than $7 million in revenue from Sept. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2018.

The money came from more than 205,000 school speeding and red light complaints.

DiCiccio said he doesn’t believe the cameras are an effective deterrent.

“At the end of the day it hasn’t proven to do anything other than just be another revenue machine for the city of Phoenix,” he said.

A report from AAA released in August rated Arizona as the state with the highest rate of red-light-running fatalities.