County moves $670K in camera money to reserve fund

SPEED CAMERA ORDINANCE

I do not believe we need to totally get rid of that ordinance, and I believe there is some benefit to the county in maintaining that ordinance. We’ll be looking at that and bring something before the entire board here in the next couple of weeks.”

Garry Seyb, Lee County Supervisor Chairman

LEE COUNTY - County Supervisors moved close to $700,000 into a reserve fund off revenues generated from Hwy. 27 speed cameras on Monday.
The move comes from an ordinance that was created by the board when the cameras were set up in late 2023. The ordinance requires that revenues from the cameras be used in accordance with a formula set up by the board to keep the funds from being integrated into the general fund.
Seyb didn’t want the funds included in the general fund because he said the county would then budget off the additional revenue and, if the state were to change speed camera legislation, it could pinch the county’s budget if that revenue were suddenly pulled from the general fund.
Lee County Budget Director Cindy Renstrom said, as part of Monday’s board discussion on a budget amendment, that $671,000 from highway traffic cameras was moved from the current fund to the reserve fund.
According to the ordinance, the county deposits the revenue from citations less the vendor’s fee into a separate interest-bearing account. At the end of the 3rd quarter of each fiscal year, the county will deposit at least 25% into a County Reserve/Emergency Fund. After that deposit, any overtime expenses incurred by the sheriff’s department for expert testimony/witness will be paid. Also 1% of the fees collected annually will got to Crimestoppers, 1% to the Lee County K9 Association, 1% to Lee County Narcotics Task Force; 1% to Lee County Attorney’s Office, 1% to Lee County Auditor’s office; 1% to Lee County EMS Ambulance, 1% to Lee County Secondary Roads, 5% to Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Additional funds may be used at the discretion of the board of supervisors.
The only funds that have been spent out of the camera money to date is $30,000 for an EMS consultant.
However, legislation passed that went into effect in June, changed the landscape of speed camera usage in the state, giving regulation of speed camera equipment to the state’s Dept. of Transportation. That move pinched Lee County, who had been using the cameras prior to Jan. 1, 2024, to issue warnings at the request of the DOT. The new legislation allows for governmental agencies using the cameras prior to Jan. 1, 2024, to continue using them in the same fashion.
The DOT is still evaluating the county’s situation and Sheriff Stacy Weber said the cameras are still up while the evaluation takes place. The county has submitted an application per the legislation and should hear in October whether they will be able to keep the cameras in the current locations.
Seyb said he didn’t believe the legislation requires the county to abolish the ordinance in lieu of state legislation.
“I do not believe we need to totally get rid of that ordinance, and I believe there is some benefit to the county in maintaining that ordinance. We’ll be looking at that and bring something before the entire board here in the next couple of weeks. With those funds, as of June 30, they automatically transfer into the reserve fund so that’s where Cindy is moving it,” Seyb said.
He also said the amendment replenishes the county’s opioid settlement fund to the tune of about $230,000. That was the amount the county moved into the EMS budget to help cover salaries and training for new employees when the county had to beef up staff to account for the closure of the Keokuk Blessing Hospital.
“This will meet our compliance with the State Auditor’s report as far as the opioid funds and moving those back into that fund as suggested by the state auditor.”
The county received no compliance errors from the Iowa Attorney General’s office or the National Opioid Settlement Trust, but received a recommendation to move it back to the county opioid fund.
Seyb said he made the decision to move it back because the funds will still be available for use in the county to help mitigate opioid and substance abuse disorders.
An application for county opioid funds is close to being made available for groups in the county to apply for assistance around opioid abuse treatments. The county will make the application available online with details around how the funds must be used and how the applications will be evaluated.