The state agency responsible for debt collection announced today that it will no longer aid local municipalities in recouping fines related to red-light camera tickets, with Comptroller Susana Mendoza saying the camera program “exploits taxpayers” without increasing public safety.

The move will primarily affect the Chicago suburbs, which collect tens of millions of dollars each year through red-light and speed camera tickets. Ticket cameras have come under heavy criticism for alleged flaws in cities’ equipment and enforcement methods.

“As a matter of public policy, this system is clearly broken,” Mendoza said in a statement. “I am exercising the moral authority to prevent state resources being used to assist a shady process that victimizes taxpayers.”

The comptroller’s announcement comes amid reports of a federal probe into SafeSpeed, one of the biggest red-light contractors in the suburbs. Multiple government officials simultaneously acted as consultants to SafeSpeed and received commissions on each red-light camera issued in their town, according to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times. The company has denied any pay-to-play arrangements and said it hasn't been issued a subpoena.

“This kind of arrangement stinks—it’s plain rotten,” Mendoza said in the statement. “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.”

SafeSpeed was listed on a search warrant as part of the corruption probe into state Sen. Martin Sandoval.

The use of red-light cameras has long been controversial. In 2017, Chicago's City Council approved a $40 million settlement to nearly 400,000 drivers who were denied due process after being issued red-light and speed camera tickets.

The state’s comptroller office has assisted local governments' debt collection efforts since 2012 by withholding state income tax returns or other state payments. This so-called offset system has historically been used to help collect child support, court fines and traffic tickets. In recent years, however, cities—especially in the Chicago suburbs—have been increasingly using this system to help collect red-light camera ticket violations.

The current arrangement hurts low-income drivers who are more likely to “really count on their state income tax refund,” according to Mendoza. Often, she said, red-light camera tickets are issued for relatively minor offenses like failing to come to a complete stop during a right-turn-on-red.

Municipalities are still free to hire private debt collectors to go after motorists with unpaid fines.

The state already withholds resources from the city of Chicago for red-light or speed camera tickets because of the controversy over camera use.

Multiple state lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban the use of red-light cameras. A bill calling on the Department of Transportation to study the use of automated cameras passed a Senate committee in November but failed to get a vote during veto session.

Eight states prohibit or severely limit the use of red-light cameras, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Thirteen states have banned speed cameras.