Former Bellwood administrator Roy McCampbell once compared red-light cameras to a lottery or casino — a "guaranteed amount of money."



But as the cameras reduce the number of drivers who roll through red lights, the number of $100 fines is also dropping.



In Bellwood, which in late 2006 became the first suburb to install the cameras, photographed violations brought in $1.1 million at their peak in 2008, instead of the projected $1.5 million to $2 million. Revenues dropped almost by half last year, and officials say net revenues this year are near $250,000.



"I don't think it ever got close," said chief of staff Peter Tsiolis. "If you are anticipating $1.5 million and get $250,000, yes, there is disappointment."



The village's experience is being played out in other suburbs that once promoted them as a safety device that could also generate millions of dollars. But the revenue they've produced often has been less than anticipated, sometimes much less.



The good news, officials say, is that red-light violations are down in many places, making streets safer. And since the ticket revenue was a budget bonus for most communities and because a drop-off was expected over time, Tsiolis and others say villages haven't had to cut services because of ticket-revenue shortfalls.



Nevertheless, the loss of income has some officials rethinking use of the cameras. Some driver and anti-tax groups have questioned the effectiveness of the enforcement tools in reducing crashes while raising money. A backlash prompted Schaumburg, Lombard and Bolingbrook to eliminate the cameras. Buffalo Grove officials recently decided not to install them.



Nabbed by a red-light camera in Northlake last year, Jill Dickerson, 45, of Elmhurst, admits she doesn't like them. Chastened by her experience, Dickerson is now leery of yellow lights.



"It's either slam on your brakes in the middle of the intersection or keep going," Dickerson said. "I think there have to be some judgments made that can only be made by a cop who is sitting there."



Some drivers and pedestrians, however, welcome the crackdown on red-light runners, and towns continue to deploy the cameras. River Forest added them last year, and Des Plaines and Highland Park wired their first cameras this year.



Nationally, use of the cameras is expanding. Almost 500 communities use red-light cameras, including more than 70 in Illinois, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported.



In Melrose Park, one of the first Illinois municipalities to put the cameras to use, the number of violations has steadily decreased since four intersections were outfitted with the devices in 2008.



The number of tickets exceeded 14,000 in 2008, fell to 11,000 last year and was slightly more than 7,000 through October. But village spokesman Nathan Brown said that's what officials were hoping.



"The number is going down," Brown said. "The cameras obviously are working in terms of a public safety perspective."



Some drivers object that the majority of violations are for making right turns on red, sometimes when motorists creep through without stopping.



Rajiv Shah, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has studied the effectiveness of red-light cameras in Chicago. He says such violations don't cause the most common or the most serious crashes. That's why some suburbs give police officers discretion when they review red-light violations; other suburbs have limited or eliminated tickets for right turns on red.



In Libertyville, net revenues from photo-enforced red-light violations were projected at $462,000 this fiscal year , but after six months only $32,000 had been taken in. Police say there are two principal reasons for the decline: More drivers are obeying the traffic signals, and the village does not issue tickets for right turns on red.



Revenue from the $100 tickets goes to the village's general fund, which has more money than officials had projected, so getting less ticket income has not been too painful, said Patricia Wesolowski, director of finance.



"We'll make up for it with other revenues and reduced expenditures," she said.



Among the first suburbs to adopt the cameras in 2007, Elmwood Park uses a camera at 76th and Grand avenues.



The fines from violations at that intersection have brought in about $75,000 per year, Village Manager Jay Dalicandro wrote in an e-mailed response to questions. But the village expects to take in less than half that in fiscal year 2010, he said, because the "camera is doing its job, and people are stopping and making the intersection safer, especially for pedestrians that cross at this location."



Still, he added, some people "still turn right on red without even slowing down."



In the south suburbs, Tinley Park added cameras last year, and a sampling of the number of violations points to a decrease of 25 percent this year. But officials said the $178,000 in fines from camera-enforced red-light violations this fiscal year remain above budget projections.



Two intersections are monitored by cameras in Wheeling, where revenues are projected to drop to about $328,000 this year from $391,000 last year, when the camera was in operation just nine months. Police say revenues have dropped in part because they issue tickets for right turns only when a driver clearly ignores the red light.



In Elk Grove Village, officials say the cameras have worked so well that they will deactivate them at Devon Avenue and Busse Road to see if they have changed driving habits. Recorded red-light violations in the village dropped to 9,500 for the first half of 2010, compared with 13,500 for the same period last year. Crashes at the monitored intersections are also down significantly — nearly 70 percent at one intersection, Mayor Craig Johnson said.



The village uses revenue from the tickets for one-time capital and beautification projects, Johnson said, not for ongoing expenses.



"It was not put in to be a source of funding," he said. "It was put in to increase safety."



If the numbers continue to go down, Johnson said, he hopes to remove all the cameras in a few years.



Neighboring Schaumburg dropped its red-light camera program last year. Though the cameras cranked out more than $1 million worth of tickets in nine months, they also generated a flurry of complaints from shoppers at nearby Woodfield Mall, who threatened to take their business elsewhere.



Because most of the violations were related to right turns, the village reconsidered enforcement. But the cameras' operator, RedSpeed Illinois, said the remaining violations weren't worth the expense of monitoring videotape, which would be forwarded to police.



Judy Nowak, 70, said she was pleased that Schaumburg eliminated the cameras.



"It's just another way to make money," said Nowak, of Wheeling.



"I think they're looking to trap people, and I don't like that at all. I'm not sorry to see it go."



Cook County in limbo



In Cook County, where commissioners got an earful of criticism about a photo-enforcement proposal, the program is on hold. Numerous suburbs objected to the plan last summer to install cameras at 20 intersections along county roads.



County highway engineers supported the proposal, saying they would reduce accidents, but new County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's office has shelved the issue.



Chicago has more red-light cameras than any other U.S. city, with 189 intersections covered. The city took in $59 million in fines during 2009, officials said, and is on pace for more in 2010, after adding cameras late last year.



Right-angle crashes have been reduced 20 percent at Chicago intersections with cameras, and violations have decreased 50 percent, officials said. Shah's study, however, showed that the number of overall accidents increased 5 percent at 39 selected intersections with red-light cameras.



A 2005 federal study of seven cities found that the number of right-angle crashes — among the most lethal kind — were reduced by 25 percent at camera-enforced intersections. There was also a 15 percent increase in rear-end crashes, but damage from those accidents was less costly, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Nationally, Federal Highway Administration officials report that red-light running caused 676 deaths and an estimated 113,000 injuries in 2009.



The National Motorists Association remains opposed to red-light cameras, arguing they penalize safe drivers while doing little to stop the most dangerous violators. The association says drivers who inch up to a red light and then turn right are unfairly receiving tickets.



Decreases in the number of violations, may be due largely to drivers avoiding intersections with the cameras, said association Executive Director Gary Biller.



"It's not that driver behavior is being modified," he said. "It's just that people avoid those areas."



Still, in most suburbs contacted for this story, officials say they'll keep using the cameras even as the number of violations continues to dwindle.



In Algonquin, which has cameras at four intersections, officials estimate violations and revenue declined about 10 percent this year. Crashes at those intersections have dropped about 34 percent in the two years since the cameras have been used.



Village Manager William Ganek said the $30,000 in lost revenue is manageable — and well worth continuing the program.



"As long as we have a reduction in accidents," he said, "I think we're happy with it."



Tribune reporters Ashley Rueff, Amy Alderman and Robert Channick contributed to this report.



rmccoppin@tribune.com