Claire Taylor

ctaylor@theadvertiser.com

Lafayette's contract with traffic camera operator Redflex Traffic Systems will be extended by a year until June 4, 2017.

The City-Parish Council approved the extension Tuesday but took no action on a request by Councilman William Theriot to let city voters decide in November whether to continue with the traffic camera enforcement program.

LCG and Redflex split revenue from the citations, but 2,100 fines haven't been paid, leaving $12 million uncollected, Theriot said.

Councilwoman Liz Webb Hebert asked the council and administration to spend the next year investigating the possibility of Lafayette Consolidated Government operating its own red light camera system.

She suggested using the money LCG gets in the next year from the program to buy its own cameras.

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The $1.2 million a year the program generates is used to pay police department salaries and transportation costs, said Chief Financial Officer Lorrie Toups. Using it to buy traffic cameras would leave a hole in the police budget.

She suggested trying to negotiate a deal with Redflex so LCG keeps more of the revenue.

The administration started filing civil lawsuits against businesses and individuals with outstanding fines a few years ago, Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux said. But some councilmen put a halt to it because they didn't want to sue their co-workers and neighbors, he said.

"There's no business in America that's owed $12 million that wouldn't go collect it," Lafayette resident Albert Green said.

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Business owner Carol Ross said there's no legal basis for collecting the fines.

"The people of Lafayette have figured it out. They're not paying the fines because they're not collectible."

Ross cited various newspaper and online articles about legal problems Redflex has faced across the country, including bribery in Chicago.

Councilmen Theriot and Jared Bellard voted not to extend the contract. All others voted in favor of the one-year extension.

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