Ignored photo radar tickets will cost you

Maricopa County supervisors voted Wednesday to impose a $20 fee for photo enforcement tickets that are ignored and wind up in court.

Supervisors Max Wilson, Mary Rose Wilcox and Fulton Brock voted in favor of the fee after a brief hearing. Supervisor Don Stapley recused himself. Supervisor Andrew Kunasek was not at the meeting.

The fee applies only to tickets issued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety on state highways.

Only a few people turned out to speak, most of them photo radar opponents including a representative of "camera fraud.com."

"We expected that they were going to go ahead and go for the money," said Todd Kandaris of camera fraud.com, which was organized to fight photo radar. "No one has the courage at this point, politically or otherwise, to stand up to the problem as it really stands."

Justice of the Peace John Ore spoke in favor of the fee, saying that the problem with unpaid tickets is overwhelming the justice courts.

"We out of ideas, we're out of resources... The work load is monumental," Ore said, adding that the county could be dealing with 600,000 speed cases this year alone.

"It was represented to us, in fact misrepresented to us, that the entire system would be automated and the amount of additional work would be minimal," said Ore.

Wilcox agreed with Ore.

"The state Legislature voted it in, the governor signed it and they left us with the mess," said Wilcox.

Drivers who fail to pay their photo enforcement tickets would face the higher fees. The money would be used only for the Justice of the Peace courts.

Approval of the fee brought a strong reaction from Shawn Bell of Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar.

"This is absolutely ridiculus in a state where we have the highest unemployment rate in the country," Bell said.

Another opponent, Thomas Costanza, said, "Make it $500, make it $1,000. So that way, the people of the state will realize what a bunch of thieves we have working in our government."

As approved, the higher fees would begin in December.