Council hears speed‑camera pilot results; staff recommends all‑hours enforcement and one full‑time program coordinator

City staff described results from a January pilot study and outlined how an automated speed enforcement program could work in Spokane Valley, recommending cameras operate beyond school hours and that the city hire one full‑time coordinator to run the program.

Traffic Engineering Manager Jeremy Clark told council the pilot collected 15‑minute speed samples at five school zones and identified Centennial Middle and Bowdish Middle as having the highest number of potential violations during school arrival and dismissal. “The goal of the speed safety camera is to increase safety by reducing speed,” Clark said, summarizing the program purpose and the national safety guidance behind automated enforcement.

Staff presented revenue and operational assumptions used to estimate program sustainability. The presentation used conservative assumptions for fines, court appeals, and hardship reductions; it also modeled the common observed outcome that citations decline sharply after cameras are posted. Clark said a staff estimate for the first full year of operation was in the low millions of dollars in gross receipts under broad (all‑hours) deployment scenarios, and that a 10‑year net revenue projection could be in the multi‑million range; the projection assumes revenues fall year‑to‑year as compliance improves and that after four years 25% of net revenues must be forwarded to the state under the statutory framework.

Gloria Manz, City Services Administrator, and Clark said privacy protections required by the enabling state law would be built into any program: vendors would redact or discard images that identify vehicle occupants; automated citations would be civil violations not placed on a driver’s record; vendors operate under contract and the city retains ownership of collected data and decides retention periods.

Vendors described to staff typically use a fixed fee model (installation and monthly operation), not a per‑ticket percentage, and they commonly propose five‑year agreements. Staff compared peer cities’ operating and per‑citation review costs (city internal review costs were discussed as approximately $12–$35 per citation in examples from other jurisdictions).

Because camera vendor fees and program management represent ongoing costs, staff recommended cameras operate during all hours (not only posted school hours) so a single full‑time employee could justify the workload for review, oversight, reporting and vendor coordination. Clark and Manz said the city would re‑run counts in non‑winter months and allow vendor speed studies before bringing an implementing ordinance to council.

Council members asked about privacy, vendor contract terms, appeals and reduced fines for hardship or public assistance. Several council members urged expanded public outreach; Deputy Mayor Hatenberg urged placing this before the public sooner so counts can be collected before winter. Council asked staff to return with ordinance language, vendor proposals and non‑winter counts for community review before voting. No ordinance was adopted tonight.