Enumclaw Traffic Ticket Revenue Nearly Doubles This Year

In the first three months of 2011, the city of Enumclaw collected nearly double the amount of revenue for traffic infractions compared with the same period last year.

The city took in $63,313 from January to March, up 94 percent from $32,675 in the first three months of 2010.

The number of tickets written also jumped by more than 70 percent. Enumclaw Police issued 423 tickets in 2011 representing 632 total violations from January through March this year, according to Enumclaw Municipal Court records; by comparison, officers issued just 245 tickets in the same three months in 2010 representing 348 total violations. Tickets were similarly lower in 2009, with 240 tickets written for a total of 334 violations.

The correlation between tickets written this year and the revenue collected is not perfectly direct, as not all tickets written between January and March have been paid, said Court Administrator Shelly Undlin. The revenue total also includes money collected for tickets written before this time frame.  

With the city budget especially tight this year, some might wonder if the increase in traffic tickets is aimed at trying to buffer the effects of the lagging economy.

But Enumclaw police Lt. Bob Huebler said there is no connection.

"When we look at our violations, we don't look at it as a revenue source for the city," he said. "We look at it from a public safety perspective."

For 2011, the city has estimated total general fund revenues of almost $9.6 million and expenditures of $8.6 million, which would leave a balance of $942,057 (see final 2011 budget). 

The reason for the increase in both tickets issued and revenue collected, Huebler said, likely reflects a combination of factors, including:

•Improved efficiency in issuing and processing tickets, thanks to the use of the Statewide Electronic Collision and Tickets Online Records (SECTOR) system, which Enumclaw police began using last year and have installed in all but two patrol cars. The system automates collision and ticket data entry, making the process of writing tickets much more streamlined for officers; they spend less time writing up a violator and more time enforcing the laws in traffic or otherwise.

The bar code reader populates data from driver’s license and vehicle registration, and officers are able to type in their notes and attach them to citations as well. "I'm sure a lot of our increase in citations is attributed to the SECTOR program," Huebler said. "It's a convenience and is efficient for all the back-end records people. You can query reports and get instant numbers for violations ... which we weren't able to do easily before."

For the officer, "it's so much easier now to scan in than to get your ticket book out and hand-write on the steering wheel. That has a big push as far as reasons for the higher revenue in violations."

•Successful collection efforts by the court. "Say someone doesn't pay a ticket," Huebler said. "The court sends them to collections; they have been having successes with the collection agency." 

From January through March 2010, 41 tickets were paid in court; this year, 78 tickets were paid. But factoring in the number of total tickets written, the percentage of tickets paid has stayed steady at around 12 percent.

•New laws: As early as 2008, it was illegal in Washington state to drive and text or talk on cell phones without a hands-free device. But until 2010, it was a secondary offense, meaning an officer couldn't pull over a driver unless there was another offense, such as speeding. That changed last year when it became a primary offense. 

Undlin was not able to provide specific numbers of citations written for these new offenses, but she said they were minimal.

Huebler also credits the officers themselves for their vigilance while on the road but said they don't have quotas for issuing citations. "There is no criteria as far as the number of contacts they make every day or the number of tickets they write every day, which is, in my opinion, a better way to do business. You're not forcing the hand of the officer. ... Instead, they go out and look at the totality of a situation, and there's many a time where a traffic stop is made and based on the contact, the officer feels it's more appropriate to give a verbal or written warning."

A majority of departments in the Plateau area work under the same premise, he said, though some do set goals.

Parking Infractions Reap Revenue Increase, Too

Court records also indicate that 57 parking tickets were issued in the first three months of 2011. By comparison, only 20 tickets were written in the same period last year. However, 2009 numbers were closer to this year's, with 49 tickets issued.

In terms of revenue, that translated roughly into $1,567 collected in 2011, $360 collected in 2010, and $1,225 collected in 2009. Again, according to Undlin, not all tickets issued have been paid, and the sums also account for tickets issued prior to this January through March time frame.

The up-and-down simply reflects the number of complaints the police department receives, Huebler said. The department has not had a dedicated parking enforcement officer for at least 10 years and does not have the resources to actively patrol parking throughout the city. The exception would be with certain areas that generate a lot of complaints, such as parts of downtown.

Complaints have increased this year, but he could not provide an explanation for why. "We'll go out and assess the situation and either provide a warning or issue an infraction," he said.

City General Fund Captures Added Revenue

The additional revenue doesn't return to the , Huebler said. Money collected through police activity, including citations as well as the jail, fingerprint fees and documentation fees, all go back to the city's general fund.

"The only unique money that is earmarked for the police department is that which is associated with seizure activity, such as drug seizure activity," he said. Even then, "there are restrictions on what it can be spent on, such as for combating future drug activity."

Additionally, a significant portion of a standard $124 traffic infraction fine collected never reaches city reserves at all. Here’s where it all goes, according to information provided by Huebler:

• $44.43 goes to the city or county to cover costs of court operations, police or prosecutors
• $0.79 goes to the city or county to help crime victims
• $44.78 goes to the State Public Safety and Education Account for traffic safety programs such as Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign
• $17 goes to the Judicial Information System to pay for the computer system that allows every court in the state to access records
• $5 goes to Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Care as payments to hospitals that treat people without insurance
• $10 goes to a state Auto Theft Prevention Account to investigate and prosecute car theft cases.
• $2 goes to a state Traumatic Brain Injury Account to create a support network and public awareness campaign for victims of brain injury