The City of Windsor office that collects fines for provincial offences ended 2022 with a net surplus of over $1.3-million in part due to red light cameras.
The 2022 Windsor/Essex Provincial Offences (POA) Annual Report that will go to the April 24 meeting of city council indicates that the Provincial Offences program ended the year with a net operating income of $1,362,820.
The figure is a 129 per cent increase over 2021 when the program recorded a net operating profit of $594,933.
The amount is what remains after all expenses to run the program are subtracted from all the fines collected for such provincial offences as speeding and running red lights.
Melissa Ryan, Manager of Provincial Offences for the City of Windsor, says in comparison to 2021, they did see a slight increase in charges.
"That was mostly in response to the red light cameras that were installed. However, in comparison to other years, the range is typically about 20,000 to 30,000 offences a year seen in our office. It is a little bit on the lower end but we are starting to make our way back up and the red light cameras have assisted with that," she says.
In 2022, the Provincial Offences Act program took in a total of 22,665 charging documents, for a monthly average intake of approximately 1,889 tickets. The number is above the 20,701 charging documents in 2021.
In January of 2022, red light cameras became operational in Windsor, with red light cameras eventually going in place at ten intersections.
The report says the red light camera program produced a net revenue of $608,738 in 2022 with 5,318 tickets issued or 23.9 per cent of overall tickets received by the department.
Ryan says in comparison to pre-pandemic, they are getting closer to the typical revenues.
"However, it really fluctuates from year-to-year just based on the extent of a change, there could be a higher value charge due in a year. So if it's a $100,000 fine and we get that paid off, it really impacts our revenue," she adds.
Based on an approved weighted assessment formula for 2022, distribution of net operating results over the course of the year resulted in $668,640 allocated to the City of Windsor, and $694,189 allocated to the County of Essex and Pelee, which will then be distributed to the individual municipalities.