The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Traffic fine increases means cash for Oakville By Tim Foran OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 3 · Friday, January 8, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Driving carelessly, failing to stop at a red light or not buckling up properly will cost Halton residents more this year, with the extra ticket revenues earmarked for municipal coffers. In line with the Ontario government's Road Safety Act passed last year, the Ministry of Transportation on Jan. 1 increased the legislative penalties and set fines -- the cost listed on traffic tickets -- by up to four times for some Highway Traffic Act (HTA) offences. The changes include, for: · careless driving, doubling the maximum financial legislative penalty to $2,000, with a ticket for the offence rising to $400 from $260. · failing to stop for an emergency vehicle or following a fire department vehicle too closely, more than quadrupling the ticket to $400 from $85, and adding substantial legislative penalties including a maximum $4,000 fine for multiple offenders, loss of three demerit points and a maximum two-year licence suspension. · failure to remain at the scene of a collision, a doubling of the maximum financial legislative penalty to $2,000. There is no ticket for this offence as it goes directly to court. · Not using or improperly wearing a seatbelt or failing to ensure a child is properly secured, a doubling of both the ticket to $200 and the maximum financial legislative penalty to $1,000. · failure to stop for a red light, under which there is actually nine different types of offences, a doubling of the maximum legislative penalty to $1,000 and a rise in the ticket cost to $260 from $150. According to its 2009 budget, the City of Burlington, on behalf of all four local municipalities and Halton Region, operates courts in Milton, Oakville and Burlington to process such traffic offences along with parking tickets and municipal bylaw and some minor federal infractions, which are all administered under the Provincial Offences Act (POA). The Province downloaded these POA court services to Halton in 2001, which has since proved a consistent money generator for the municipalities. "I can tell you without fear of being opposed to my stand, when the provincial offences money was transferred to the municipalities, my direction was very clear to our staff that we are not in the area of generating revenue, that we are enforcing with a purpose." Halton Regional Police Chief Gary Crowell "The POA branch processes approximately 50,000 charges annually, has a gross revenue of approximately $5 million, annual expenses of approximately $3 million, and net revenue of $2 million," states Burlington's budget. Halton Region gets half of the revenue, with the other half split among the four local municipalities based on weighted assessment. Halton's 2010 budget assumes almost $1 million in POA revenue, but revenues have been much higher than budget estimates for the past three years. Part of that is likely due to the increase in POA tickets handed out by Halton Regional Police officers, which rose an estimated six per cent to just under 45,000 in 2009, double the increase in population last year, according to a police budget presentation reviewed in early December. The cost of traffic tickets includes the fine, court costs, and a victim fine surcharge. The latter cost is deposited into a special fund to help victims of crime, according to the MTO. The municipalities, however, generally get to keep the other revenues. During an administration and finance committee meeting last month, Milton Mayor Gord Krantz broached the subject of whether Halton Regional Police, whose budget is paid for by Halton Region, sees HTA tickets as income. "One of the things I as an elected person get (from the public) every once in a while...is that the POA ticket, the only reason that it is done (issued) is as a revenue producer," Krantz told Police Chief Gary Crowell. "Is that a myth or fact or somewhere in between?" Crowell responded: "I can tell you without fear of being opposed to my stand, when the provincial offences money was transferred to the municipalities, my direction was very clear to our staff that we are not in the area of generating revenue, that we are enforcing with a purpose. Our enforcement is directed so that we can maintain as much as possible public safety in our region." Coinciding with the increase in tickets issued by police last year, there was an estimated seven per cent decline in motor vehicle collisions, with fatal collisions down to eight from 15 in 2008, the police budget presentation noted. "I would categorize that as myth," Krantz responded. Inside Opinion............................................6 Artscene.........................................17 Food...............................................20 Worship..........................................22 Sports.............................................24 Real Estate.....................................27 Classified........................................28 For home delivery & customer service call (905) 845-9742 Mon., Tues. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed., Thu., and Fri. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (open for calls only after 5 p.m.) Closed Sat. and Sun. NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS call (905) 845-9742 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com Full Delivery: Halton District School Board, 2001 Audio, Leon's, Sears, Living Art, Home Outfitters, Michael's of Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart DON'T MISS OUT ON THE 2009 HOME RENO TAX CREDIT! QUALITY INTEGRITY VALUE Partial Delivery: Ashley Furniture, M&M Meats, Premier Fitness, Metro Canada, Community Calendars, Smart Source, Mobilia, Centennial Windows, Price Chopper, Food Basics, Zellers, Home Hardware, Longo's, No Frills, Hooper's Pharmacy, Superstore, Boat Guide, Proctor & Gamble, Solutions, Staples Business, Shop & Save, Wal-Mart CLOSETS · HOME OFFICES · GARAGES · MEDIA CENTRES BUY LOCALLY SERVICE LOCALLY SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY Phone: (905) 825-8088 www.volvoofoakville.com SERVICE DEPARTMENT OPEN SATURDAYS