Buffalo, NY (WBEN) A Buffalo Common Councilmember is throwing out the idea of having cameras put in traffic lights as a way to generate revenue.
Joe Golombek says the idea was first brought up in Buffalo nearly 20 years ago. "It was proposed, I believe, in 2009 by Mayor Brown as a way to raise revenue without raising taxpayers' costs. And I've always felt that I would rather see money raised through not through raising property taxes, but by getting it, in different and innovative ways. And if I recall correctly, it was voted down not once but twice," says Golombek. He says he did research and found New York City, at the request of Mayor Mamdani, was getting about 450 cameras to help them. "I just thought it was an interesting article, and I wanted to clock it in for the council," says Golombek.
Whether this would be effective depends on who you ask, says Golombek. "In the past, there were some negatives that were associated with it. There would be an increase in, I believe, the T-bone type accidents. However, the statistics also led to believe that within two to three years, there was some unbelievable number, like 70 or 80% of people stopped running red lights in the municipalities where they are being used. Now, of course, this is the statistics are debated because some of it was from municipalities, some of it was from the company that sponsors them, some of it was for political reasons, the people that either did or did not support them. But I just think that as we're looking at this, you know, budget crisis in the city of Buffalo, that we ought to be looking at everything, and the last thing we should be looking at is raising double digits on tax on property taxes next year," says Golombek.
How much could this raise if approved? "If I recall correctly, back in 2009, the number was approximately $100,000 per camera, and I think that the Brown administration had recommended about a dozen, give or take, and so they thought that it would have been about a million dollars a year that would have come into the city. But there were some questions about was that one point? Let's say it was $1 million. Was that after the fees and everything? So there, there were some questions back then, and we never got far and further along in the proposal than just arguing about it on the floor of the council. But had we done that in 2009, that would have brought in probably about a million dollars a year, and that would have been about 12 or 14 million towards the budget deficit, which I think is a is a better way way of going after our structural problems than simply raising taxes on the businesses and the people that live in the city," says Golombek.
The City of Buffalo faces a projected general fund budget deficit of approximately $103 million to $110 million for the 2026–2027 fiscal year, according to reports from the New York State Comptroller and city leadership
Idea was initially introduced in 2009
Idea was initially introduced in 2009
