Manatee County Looks to Renew Contract on Red Light Cameras

BRADENTON – Manatee County’s contract for leasing red-light cameras from its vendor, Conduent (formerly Xerox), expires in September. At a work session Tuesday, the board and county staff seemed poised to continue the relationship at that time.

A perennial effort to repeal the law at the state level narrowly failed a deadlocked Senate committee vote during this year’s annual legislative session. The move to ban the cameras has been picking up steam and is expected to be revived in 2018. The county is also a co-defendant in a multi-municipality lawsuit challenging the use of the devices that is currently stalled in the federal court system.

Manatee County Building Department Director John Barnott told commissioners that the county would look to extend the contract for five years, and that the contract gives the county an immediate out should the law authorizing red light cameras be repealed. Barnott also said that no additional cameras would be required, though that would be part of contract negotiations, which would be limited to minor tweaks, as anything more would likely require a new RFP.

Commissioners seemed to agree that the red light cameras were effective deterrents, though Commissioner Charles Smith pointed out that many experts debated their effectiveness in preventing vehicle crashes, while expressing concerns over potential exposures from lawsuits that would seek to force the county into paying restitution of previously collected fines.

When asked about revenue, Barnott explained that the county leased the lights from Conduent for $459,000 a year, with the state taking half of each fine collected. There is also the expense of a Sheriff’s Deputy assigned to the program. As a result, the county’s take was only $292,000 in FY 15/16.

When a violation is triggered by the cameras, a Manatee County Sheriff’s Deputy must review the video and then issue a ticket if appropriate. MCSO Sgt Mike Kenyan said that the department has observed positive results from the devices. "The majority of the intersections have shown a dramatic reduction in major vehicle crashes," Kenyan told commissioners.

"I don’t think there’s a person in this room who has not modified their behavior in light of these devices," said Manatee County Attorney Mitchell Palmer. "I know I have." Most commissioners expressed agreement.

Barnott said that he did not see his department bringing the proposed contract before the board before August. The BOCC would have to approve the new contract as an advertised agenda item at a future meeting.