Albany has eight speed and red-light cameras, including this one on Santiam Road at Geary Street.
Albany has a million-dollar speeding problem, but it’s a problem only for motorists caught by the city’s traffic cameras while going at least 11 mph faster than the posted speed.
For everyone else involved, it’s a source of income.
The biggest money maker is Verra Mobility, the company headquartered in Mesa, Ariz., which operates the speed and red-light cameras. The city council unanimously and without debate approved entering a no-bid contract with the company in December 2023.
Sets of two cameras each operate at four Albany intersections. At three locations, the cameras keep tabs on drivers going in opposite directions on the main road. At one, Queen Avenue and Geary Street, one camera checks southbound traffic on Geary, and the other records traffic going west on Queen.
Where do I get the “million-dollar speeding problem”? From a summary I received this week from City Hall.
I asked Finance Director Jeanna Yeager for financial statistics of the photo-enforcement program for the budget year 2025-26, which ended June 30.
Here is her reply:
“For FY 2026, the traffic camera program generated approximately $1,246,849 in revenue, including $1,094,287 from speed limit violations and $152,563 from traffic control device violations.
“There were 6,920 paid citations during the year. Direct per-citation costs totaled approximately $595,120, consisting of $138,400 to the vendor, $346,000 to the State, and $110,720 to the County. Monthly intersection fees totaled an additional $258,000.
“After these direct costs, approximately $393,729 remained. This amount does not reflect other administrative costs associated with operating the program, so it should not be considered the City’s final net revenue.”
Under the contract, Albany pays Verra Mobility $6,000 a month per intersection. The company also gets a share of each paid ticket. Add the two revenue streams together, and Verra Mobility took in $396,400 from Albany for the year.
In 2023 the council approved the arrangement with the vendor saying it wanted to improve traffic safety. That would mean fewer collisions than before, but if there is data to that effect, I can’t find it.
Maybe that’s because at intersections with many crashes, no cameras were installed.
And it is safe to say that with $1,094,287 in speeding fines over one year, Albany drivers still go as fast as traffic and road conditions allow. (hh)
“The beatings will continue until morale improves… How many times has this issue been disusssed? Hey! If the speeding idiots don’t mind their fines, I’m all for them!
Money before safety, right Ray?
How much did you get for your kickback?
I think the one behind Petco sucks. It’s not well marked and you come off of Pacific from the east and you’re already doing 35 mph. Seems like the speed should be 35 mph there anyhow. But if you go 36, its $300 bucks out of your pocket. This ticket was the first ticket I’ve got since doing 56 in a 55 up around John Day three decades ago. I originally thought these were just red-light cameras. I’m going to see if I can buy one from Arizona and put it at my intersection. To be competitive, I’ll charge much less.
$393,729 minus city’s administrative costs? That’s not a big share of the over 1 million generated. Does the city allocate any of that toward fixing Albany’s crumbling streets? I think the answer to that is no.
I would like to see the ‘administrative’ costs to the city of Albany…not just the rent to the company that installed them
We have a tax base, if we were all law abiding citizens , administration people and police would still get paid, 100 per cent paid!!! So this money like state dmv monies that go to odot, could go toward streets, but even our council don’t know what to pay our city manager, so they hire a consultant to tell them, fine money absolutely go towards street repair, go to council meetings and demand this,
It’s a scam! Petty and corrupt. It’s like a stepdad just waiting for you to mess up so he can get away with slapping you. Most infractions are honest mistakes, not a crime ripe for punishment. This type of behavior from government destroys trust and relationships with a community one fine at a time. A thriving community needs a good relationship between itself and the people. This is not the way to go about it. It’s not improving safety but in fact eating away at it. The end result is only that a corrupt and greedy government is controlling you.
Great, put these in at every major intersection and we’ll solve the city budget issues in no time. You can’t raise the zone to 35mph as then people will drive 45mph+ and that’s just reckless/dangerous. If drivers aren’t paying enough attention with a very generous 11mph margin above the posted speed, they should be getting a ticket.
“$393,729 minus city’s administrative costs”. If my math is correct the $393,739 is 32% (31.577%) of the over 1million dollars collected. How much are the city’s administrative costs? My understanding is the “profit” goes into the city’s General Fund which does not fund road repairs.
Oh yea that Albany gas tax will pass & the upcoming school bond measure….People in Albany are rolling in extra money……run-forrest-run..
$165 for 37 in a 25 at Santiam and Geary. I chalk it up to the cost of doing business in Albany, and prioritize Lebanon, Statyton, Corvallis over Albany for shopping and recreating.
If all who complain about said cameras would simply obey the traffic laws, all of this “controversy” would be a distant memory. Instead, too many Albany drivers feel they are above the law and beyond the reach of law enforcement. Only someone stupid would violate traffic laws and then complain about being caught “en flagrante”. OBEY,
All I can say is that Greed before the citizens. People don’t purposely try to win themselves these big money prizes! It’s a total collapse of the system to legally rip and steal.