11/18/2023
Wow
The fees for traffic citations in PA have been increased as follows:
The actual fine will remain at $25.00 (as it has for many years now.) The EMS fee remains at $20.00. There is a surcharge fee of $45.00 which remains unchanged. The costs for processing the citation remain at $45.50. The JCP fee will now be $33.25, an increase of $11.25. This brings the total cost for a typical traffic citation (such as a stop sign violation) to $168.75
It is important for everyone to realize that only $12.50 (half of the actual fine)is returned to the municipality where the violation occurred. None of these monies are returned directly back to the Police Department.
I see and hear countless comments from people who mistakenly believe that an Officer could “pay his own salary” with money received from traffic tickets, and I feel the need to address this misnomer once again. When you factor in the costs per Officer (salary, health insurance, equipment, uniforms, and training expenses) and divide that amount by $12.50, each Officer would have to write over 8,000 traffic citations/year. That’s 667/month; 45/working day, or roughly one citation every 15 minutes - non-stop. Furthermore, if even one of the cited drivers requests a summary trial, the cost to prosecute the citation will often be greater than the total amount of the citation.
Simply put, law enforcement is not and should never be a revenue-raising activity. The goal of traffic enforcement is to create safer roadways by discouraging drivers from violating traffic laws through the issuance of warnings and citations. The costs associated with law enforcement preclude any financial gain for a good reason. Raising revenue for a municipality is the resposibility of the municipal council, Commissioners, or supervisors. Municipal finances are not the responsibility of the Police Department, and municipal budgets should never be computed in anticipation of traffic citations being issued.
