Last month, Spokane's network of automated traffic cameras flagged 2,544 people for speeding and 2,209 for blowing through red lights.
If and when those people pay the tickets they receive in the mail, the money will go into a dedicated pot of money called the Traffic Calming Fund, which pays for a program that draws on neighborhood input to build speed bumps, stop signs, roundabouts, curb bumpouts, crosswalks and other infrastructure projects designed to slow motorists down.
This year, however, as the city works to plug a $20 million hole in its general fund, Mayor Nadine Woodward is proposing taking $2.8 million of the traffic camera money and putting it toward the police department.
The idea has proved controversial.
"I was quite shocked to see that," says Council member Zack Zappone. "We've been saying in all these meetings that traffic calming is a high priority. ... If this is almost as high a priority as public safety, why are we going to the chopping block first for that and not other things?"
Council members and neighborhood representatives worry that moving money from the fund to cover police costs will hurt traffic calming efforts and further delay construction of the traffic safety projects neighborhoods have been promised.
"These funds were meant to be dedicated toward these programs from the very get-go," says Randy McGlenn, chair of the city's Pedestrian Transportation and Traffic committee. "The fact that the city is looking at it as a slush fund doesn't sit well with a lot of folks."
Brian Coddington, the mayor's spokesperson and semi-official chief of staff, argues that the fund is healthy enough to support both the proposed police services and the planned infrastructure projects.
"Oftentimes the city is in a situation where they have to choose one or the other," says Coddington. "In this case, there's revenue and enough of a balance to do both. ... This is one of those win-win situations for the community."
Woodward's final 2024 budget proposal, which she released last week, increases the police department's budget from $73 million to $85 million, delays internal debt payments, has a 1% property tax increase and puts $500,000 toward designing a permanent fire station in Latah Valley.
It also calls for pulling $2.8 million from the Traffic Calming Fund to "re-establish the Spokane Police Department traffic unit as the most visible traffic calming measure."
Half of the money would be used to fund a dedicated traffic enforcement unit. The department's previous traffic unit was disbanded in September 2021, restarted in March 2022, and then disbanded again in January because of staffing shortages.
The other half of the money would backfill costs associated with police coverage of special events like Hoopfest, DUI investigations, and "overtime and other police activities," Coddington says. Woodward's budget proposes redirecting the funds for at least the next two years.
Many City Council members are skeptical. They say that traffic calming projects are incredibly popular with neighbors, and that raiding the fund is unsustainable and not what the money was intended for.
"You're basically saying we're going to cut what is a major priority of our constituents. I don't think that makes a lot of sense," says Council member Michael Cathcart, a member of the council's two-person conservative minority.
The Traffic Calming Fund will start 2024 with a balance of $4.3 million and is expected to bring in $5.9 million in revenue over the course of the year, according to Woodward's budget.
Coddington notes that the traffic calming program has grown significantly since its inception in 2010. In the early part of the decade, annual revenue from enforcement cameras was roughly $1.5 million. But as the city added more cameras, revenue grew, and now camera revenue averages closer to $5.5 million each year.
Coddington adds that the city has plans to install new traffic cameras that will bring in even more revenue, though it's still unclear when those cameras will be ordered and installed.
"There will be plenty of money to go around," Coddington says. "The funding is there for those projects."
Cathcart says that while he doesn't think Woodward's proposal would deplete the fund, he does think it would be a "big hit."
"You're using a one-time resource for an ongoing expense, and that's continuing our unsustainable budgeting practices," Cathcart says.
Earlier this month, representatives from Spokane's 29 neighborhood councils learned that a slate of traffic calming projects scheduled for installation this year would be delayed until 2024.
The 23 projects — which total $3.6 million in estimated construction costs — were originally approved in 2020.
The list of projects included curb bump-outs in the Chief Garry Park neighborhood, a marked crosswalk in Minnehaha, rapid flashing beacons in Manito, a sidewalk in North Indian Trail and a lane reduction in West Hills.
McGlenn says neighborhood representatives were caught off guard by the abrupt delay.
"We're hearing about these things after the fact, and a lot of residents are just very frustrated with that," McGlenn says.
Kirstin Davis, spokesperson for the Public Works Department, says the delay and communication challenges largely stem from unfilled vacancies, uncertainty over City Council's role in the program, and the prioritization of projects funded by state and federal grants.
Davis says construction of the delayed projects is now scheduled to start in early spring 2024. The next slate of projects costs $2 million and is scheduled for late summer 2024.
Cathcart says he's pushed to use money from the Traffic Calming Fund to ensure projects are completed on time. Zappone agrees, and says diverting money to the police would make that difficult.
Last week, the city's Community Assembly — a coalition of representatives from the city's neighborhood councils — voted unanimously to pass a resolution expressing frustration about the delay. They also asked City Council members to "reject the use of traffic calming funds for any purpose other than City Council approved traffic calming projects."
Frustration over traffic calming projects being delayed — not approved at all — was a common theme earlier this fall when neighborhood council representatives gathered to give City Council an update on their respective neighborhoods.
Luke Tolley, acting chair for the Bemiss Neighborhood Council, said neighborhoods appreciate having input in the process but are troubled by a process that "takes two-plus years to get a problem fixed."
Mary Winkes, interim chair with the Manito-Cannon Hill Neighborhood Council, said frustration over delays has led some people to stop attending neighborhood council meetings.
"People get discouraged," Winkes said.
Dave Lucas, who leads the Rockwood Neighborhood Council, echoed Winkes' concerns.
"It's been disappointing for the neighborhoods to not see much progress," Lucas said. "I've seen neighbors leave the program. People who invested a lot of time have gotten really frustrated."
When discussing the importance of traffic officers during a budget meeting earlier this month, Police Chief Craig Meidl noted that traffic fatalities have risen dramatically in recent years. In Washington, 745 people were killed by cars last year — the highest figure since 1990. Things are on track to be even worse when the stats are finalized for this year.
If approved, Coddington says the police department's new traffic enforcement unit would have one sergeant and eight officers spread out across different shifts seven days a week.
"Officers in police cars are the ultimate form of traffic calming. Anytime you drive by someone who has been pulled over on the side of the road, or you drive by an accident, that has an inherent calming effect on the traffic," Coddington says. "You have the visible effect of a marked police car, but you [also] have someone who's able to be closer to your neighborhood to respond in case of an emergency."
Zappone says he adamantly disagrees. Police can't be everywhere all the time, he says.
"Built structure slows people down more than police would," Zappone says. "A police officer is not going to protect a pedestrian crossing the street. We need to have other interventions."
The prior traffic enforcement unit was disbanded in January because of vacancies and difficulty filling positions, but Coddington says the new police guild contract finalized this summer comes with pay increases that will attract more new hires, and that the department anticipates reaching its full staffing level of 354 officers by the end of the year.
He adds that the revived traffic enforcement unit is expected to bring in $700,000 in revenue next year, all of which would go to the city's general fund.
City Council members aren't totally opposed to the idea of putting small amounts of traffic calming funding toward police. In July, the City Council approved pulling $48,600 from the Traffic Calming Fund to cover 12 vehicle-mounted radar cameras on patrol cars, though Zappone says the council is still waiting for an update on the status of the cameras. City Council members also approved pulling $75,000 from the fund to cover overtime costs for targeted patrols to deter speed racing on public roads.
Both Zappone and Cathcart say they also want to see dedicated traffic officers return. They'd even consider using some of the Traffic Calming Fund to do so — but only if those officers were solely dedicated to traffic enforcement work.
But Cathcart says the mayor's current proposal appears to be "simply a way to shuffle dollars to cover overtime costs, and not actually stand up a true traffic unit."
The City Council will debate — and likely push back on — the mayor's budget proposal over the next month, with the goal of passing a finalized budget by Nov. 27. ♦
