Oct 21, 2013
The distribution of fine revenue from traffic offenses has been a longstanding issue for SUMA members. Right now, only 108 towns in the province receive fine revenue (excluding those with their own RCMP agreements or municipal police forces), and that revenue is entirely dependent on the ticketing officer indicating that the offense occurred within the municipality. The revenue from any ticket issued outside of those 108 urban municipalities goes to the province’s General Revenue Fund.
SUMA has met numerous times with the Ministry of Justice over the last decade to address this situation, but no solution has been implemented. Members continued to contact SUMA periodically to express their unhappiness with the way fine revenue is currently distributed.
Recently, SUMA staff sat down again with the Ministry of Justice, and discussed implementing a more equitable fine revenue distribution model. The solution we agreed upon would see fine revenue distributed in proportion to the amount a municipality pays toward policing each year. This amount would be deducted directly from the bill each municipality receives for policing.
Under the proposed model, the Ministry would include fine revenue from tickets issued on all roads in the province, other than highways owned by the province. This would mean an additional $1 million in fine revenue available for distribution, less a 25 per cent administrative fee for the province. The Ministry is considering taking the proposal forward as part of their 2014-2015 budget submission.
Some urban municipalities currently receiving fine revenue (64 out of 108) will see a decrease under the new model, based on the three-year payment average. However, the fine revenue will be extended to a total of 450 urban municipalities once the new model is in place.
SUMA would like to know how your community feels about the proposed model. Please send any questions or comments to Sean McKenzie by Friday, November 1, 2013.
