The buckets of cash that Seattle’s school-zone speed cameras are raking in – $3 million in their first half-year of operation – will now only 
be spent on school-related projects. (Editor: see comment by Lisa, below.)
That includes the 6,000 tickets issued through June by Maple Leaf’s cameras, on Fifth Avenue Northeast outside Olympic View Elementary School.
The Seattle City Council unanimously voted this afternoon to restrict how cash from the $189 tickets from the eight school-zone cameras, in four locations, can be spent, our news partner The Seattle Times is reporting.
The separate fund the council established today would require every penny to be spent on operating and maintaining the cameras; safety education; and capital-improvement projects, such as repainted crosswalks, new sidewalks, lights and more camera installations.
The vote was a defeat for Mayor Mike McGinn, who wanted to keep the cash in the city’s general fund, while promising to prioritize school improvements.
David, agree with the use of quotes in your post around “surplus money”. Average citizen (meaning you don’t live in South Lake Union and/or work for Amazon) when you feel like you are driving up to Salmon La Sac but realize you are still in Seattle (excluding South Lake Union) how does Bridging the Gap phase II sound ?
Concerned Citizen is right. Bridging the Gap was sold as a way for neighborhoods to access large quantities of money. Shortly after passage, Mayor Nickels substantively changed the rules. Now Mayor McGinn is taking “surplus” money from Bridging the Gap and giving it to Metro.
In 2014, City Hall will be proposing another big infrastructure levy. Voters should start writing Councilmembers (all of them) now to insist on a couple of things:
1. Most of the money needs to be allocated in seperate, specific chunks.
2. The money from the levy is not accessible unless Council spends a certain percentage of General Fund money on transportation projects. When a levy passes, Council tends to reduce general fund spending on that area. Levies are to BOOST spending, not provide a substitute.
About 60% of voters agreed Council got it wrong with the 2012 car tab plan by not having a specific plan and by having a wrong focus on project spending. How the 2014 infrastructure levy comes down will affect quality of life in Maple Leaf and the other 90+ neighborhoods in the city for a LONG time to come.
David
Walker, by approving a property tax initiative like Bridging the Gap, homeowners have effectively paid for sidewalks. Unfortunately if you do not live in South Lake Union you did not benefit from Bridging the Gap. In case you haven’t figured it out McGinn is all about South Lake Union. The City Council action is a good thing. General fund is code for “money with no accountability”.
A major investment was made by the City (through the Bridging the Gap levy) in installing sidewalks to Sacajawea in 2009. I can’t recall the cost but it may have been around $1 million.
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/btg_nsf_20th.htm
Homeowners can also install sidewalks themselves. It is expensive, but it is a possible solution.
Agreed, sidewalks along 20th Ave NE between where they end at 88th up to Sacajawea seems like a no brainer to improve safety for kids walking to school.
Have you ever had to walk down 17th to bring child to Sacajawea? Cars rocket up and down the streets as c cars try to avoid the traffic on lake city. There are no sidewalks from 90th to the school. Most of the street lights have overgrown trees blocking the light. It is particularly bad from 91st to 93rd.
Called the city numerous times but have always been rebuffed with, “no money in budget”
This is not quite right. The funds must be used for pedestrian and traffic safety projects, but not exclusively in school zones.
The ordinance says the funds:
“will be spent for school traffic and pedestrian safety and directly related infrastructure projects; (my note – the early part of the sentence is the only school zone projects distinction, the items in the list following, are NOT school zone distinct) pedestrian, bicyclist, and driver education campaigns; and installation, administrative, enforcement, operations and maintenance costs associated with the school zone fixed automated cameras.”
Editor: Thanks, Lisa (who is with the city).
Maybe we should put cameras on every street, think of the money we could raise.
Let’s hope it stays that way! The lottery was put in place in this state as the end all funding mechanism for schools. Now a large part of that money goes into the general fund for politicians to play with to drum up re-election support.
+1 for the City Council!