2011-09-14 Handouts @ Mtg. - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM TO: Centennial Lakes Police Department, Operating Committee FROM: Kurt B Glaser, City Attorney DATE: August 30, 2011 RE: Municipal Ticket Payment Program — Examination of whether the Program can avoid payment of State Surcharges for traffic violations Question Presented for City authorization: The question presented in this memorandum is whether or not the Municipal Ticket Payment Program can avoid payment of the State Surcharges for each ticket. Generally speaking, state law requires payment of a surcharge to the state for each ticket issued. There are two surcharges rates: $12 for parking and $75 for everything else. There are two Cities in Anoka County which offer ticket payment programs. One program collects the surcharge and pays it to the State, the other program does not. This has a revenue implication to the proposed Municipal Ticket Payment Program for Centennial Lakes Police Department. The purpose of this memorandum is to request authorization from each City as to the question of whether or not the Municipal Ticket Payment Program should, or should not pay the Surcharge to the State. Discussion Until recently, state law regarding the imposition of this Surcharge appeared to apply its requirements to City -based ticket payment programs. Coon Rapids paid this Surcharge to the state. Lino Lakes collects the amount of the Surcharge but has not paid that revenue to the State. Various Cities through the State have mix of different practices regarding their ticket payment programs. The State Auditor issued an opinion in which she warned Cities that non - payment of the Surcharge could result in action by the State to collect those amounts from Cities. This position may be politically implausible but it remains untested. Then, the Surcharge law was revised during the 2011 Special Session. The Legislature revised the Surcharge law during the 2011 Special Session intending apply the Surcharge whenever possible. This revision redefined and expanded the scope for applying the surcharge. However, this revision appears to have defined a means under which a prosecutor may conduct a ticket payment program which avoids payment of the surcharge. Since this theory is untested, and the intention of the legislature is to apply this Surcharge whenever possible, it is recommended that the City Councils make a decision about how they wish to proceed.