WATERLOO — City leaders will consider a proposal to earmark any revenue generated by automated traffic enforcement cameras for property tax relief.
Waterloo City Council members are scheduled Monday to consider a resolution designating profits from red light and speed camera citations to be held in an account to be used in future years to reduce the police department’s tax asking.
Council members voted 6-1 Aug. 7 to authorize the use of automated traffic enforcement cameras and approve a contract with Gatso USA to install and operate the cameras at intersections and locations approved by Police Chief Dan Trelka.
Trelka has said the purpose is to discourage aggressive driving and improve roadway safety. But camera critics argue the they are a measure to boost city revenues.
The proposed resolution would require net revenues from the cameras to be held in a designated police account to be used two years later when council members adopt the annual budget.
People are also reading…
WATERLOO — The city is mining its crash data to determine where automated traffic enforcemen…
Money generated in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2018, would be part of the budget adopted in March 2019. That ensures the city knows exactly how much was raised by the cameras and would not be budgeting based on estimates.
Property tax relief does not mean property tax reduction. It is likely the policy budget will grow over time due to inflation, wage increases and commodity prices, and it is unknown whether the camera revenue will offset those increases entirely.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers on the second floor of City Hall. Other scheduled business includes:
Public hearings on zoning and a site plan for the planned $8.5 million, 26,000-square-foot All In Grocers to be developed by entrepreneur Rodney Anderson and architect Dan Levi near the CVS Pharmacy at U.S. Highway 63 and Franklin Street.
WATERLOO — Supporters packed City Hall and cheered Monday as council members voted to award …
An agreement with Hawkeye Community College to allow the school’s building trades program to construct houses on city-owned lots.
A 4:40 p.m. Public Safety Committee meeting to discuss restrictions on the use of consumer fireworks. The committee could make recommendations to the full City Council on the use of fireworks.