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Lake Country Municipal Court judge briefs Delafield council on court finances and caseload
Summary
Judge Timothy Kaye told the Delafield council the municipal court keeps about 27% of each citation's fine revenue and that the court's budget is funded from that share; Delafield joined the court recently and has generated roughly $40,000 in the first eight months of operation.
Judge Timothy Kaye, who presides over Lake Country Municipal Court, gave a state-of-the-court presentation to the Delafield Common Council on March 3, explaining how citation fines are distributed, how the court's budget is funded and how Delafield's recent entry into the joint court has affected revenues.
Kaye said the distribution of a typical traffic fine in the court's system results in roughly 40 percent retained by the municipality that issued the ticket, about 25 percent to the state, roughly 8 percent for warrants and associated processing, and about 27 percent to Lake Country Municipal Court's budget. “On one ticket, for example, a typical ticket, a $124, typical intermediate speeder... your municipality retains 40% of it. The state, they get 25%... The walk to jail gets 8%... and then 27% LCMC, we keep that,” Kaye said.
Kaye said Lake Country's court budget is about $350,000, which covers the judge, clerks, rent, insurance and operating costs; he said the court aims to be self-sustaining from its share of fines rather than request funding from member municipalities. He said Lake Country is one of the largest joint municipal courts in Wisconsin: fourth-largest in the state behind Milwaukee, Madison and a larger joint court.
Kaye noted that Delafield formally joined the court in May of the prior year and that revenue from January through the first months was starting small as citations and payments flow into the court calendar; he said Delafield has generated about $40,000 to date and that, extrapolating current activity, next year the city could expect roughly $70,000 to $80,000 in court-related revenue.
Kaye described court operations, including staggered calendars beginning as early as 8:15 a.m. to keep individual appearances brief and to process pleas and payments efficiently. He also described internal administration: the court has two full-time clerks, two part-time clerks, and coordination meetings with police chiefs and court administrative staff.
Councilmembers asked whether economies of scale were the main factor that keeps Lake Country's costs lower than smaller, standalone municipal courts; Kaye agreed economies of scale are the primary reason. He also noted that the court has a small annual surplus historically and that surplus funds have been reimbursed to founding municipalities in the past.
No action was required of the council based on the presentation; Councilmembers thanked Kaye and did not vote on court matters at that meeting.
