Patterson considers speed camera enforcement

Does Patterson need cameras to catch speeders?
The City Council is considering such a program, which has proven to be controversial in other municipalities across Louisiana.
Also at Tuesday’s regular meeting, the council heard about plans to economize at the Community Center and on employee health insurance coverage as the city’s budget struggles continue.
The speed camera discussion, listed on the agenda as an introductory ordinance, began with a presentation by Toye Taylor, a former Bogalusa mayor and staffer under Gov. John Bel Edwards. Now Taylor represents MetaTraffic, a company that provides the monitoring equipment in exchange for 40% of the fines.
Patterson is considering the cameras on Red Cypress Road and Catherine Street.
The cameras measure speed and photograph the license plates of violators.
“If you have a speeding problem,you can be given statistics showing speeding is reduced …,” Taylor said.
The company installs the equipment and handles billing and collections, Taylor said.
The city will need an officer assigned to looking over the tickets, and a magistrate or mayor’s court is required. Signs will be required to warn drivers that speed is being monitored.
In contrast to conventional tickets, camera tickets don’t result in an immediate increase in insurance premiums, Taylor said.
The city’s 60% share of the proceeds must go for public safety rather than going to the city’s general fund.
Baldwin is the only municipality in St. Mary Parish currently using cameras for speed enforcement.
Cameras used to photograph speeders and those who run red lights often kick up debates over their legality.
One often-heard complaint is that the cameras are just a money grab. Others center on constitutional rights questions, real and imagined, and on the disproportionate impact on low-income people and minorities.
A bill introduced in the 2024 session of the Louisiana Legislature would have required a photo of the driver’s face, rather than just a license plate, to accompany a ticket generated by camera. Another bill that failed would have banned camera enforcement all together.
One bill that passed requires governments employing camera enforcement to have an administrative appeal process.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that in 2022, speeding was a factor in 29% of all traffic fatalities.
Also Tuesday, Councilman Ray Dewey said the city is working on ways to keep the Community Center open and even self-sufficient.
The center, which the city opened in a portion of the old Patterson Junior High building when the new school opened, took a 2% cut in the city’s culture and recreation budget.
Dewey, who along with Councilwoman Mamie Perry talked to the center’s employees, said they also identified $5,000 in equipment costs billed to the center but not used there.
They also found that the employees were working even after hours.
Dewey talked about taking another look at the center’s operations in six months.
“We’re not there,” Dewey said. “I can’t say yet. I think we can get to the point where the Community Center is self-sufficient.”
“It’s going to be a group effort,” Perry said. “But we’ll get it.”
The insurance problem is proving just as tough to solve, and at least for now with less reason for optimism.
The council appears likely to reduce personnel costs by ending the city government’s contribution to the health coverage of employees’ families.
The city has been paying 75% of the premiums for employees and 50% for coverage of their families.
For now, only five families would be affected, although it’s not a development Dewey says he likes to see.
“Looking at the current situation with the city finances,” Dewey said, “we have to do something.”
What that might be isn’t determined yet. Dewey said it may be possible to pay a higher percentage of employee coverage so they have more to use on family coverage obtained elsewhere, and still have the city come out ahead.
Perry said council members want to hear from employees with suggestions about how to obtain the coverage their families need.