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The Palm Coast City Council will decide the location of any new cameras.

There will be more red light cameras at Palm Coast intersections, but the City Council will have the final say on the location of new cameras.

With a 4-1 vote, the City Council on Tuesday approved the contract extension with American Traffic Solutions to continue to monitor six Palm Coast intersections with 10 cameras. City Councilman Jason DeLorenzo was the lone vote against red light cameras altogether.

DeLorenzo, who has been against the red light cameras since he joined the City Council last year, said he doesn’t think the cameras increase road safety.

“This is a real concern to me,” he said. “I know the data may be flawed, but it’s the best data we have. ... My belief is that people get nervous when they get to (the intersections with red light cameras). They know they’re there ... but they get nervous and don’t drive naturally.”

Eventually, ATS could install more cameras at other intersections, but the City Council didn’t agree with giving the contractor “sole discretion” on location — a shift from last week’s workshop meeting.

The City Council agreed that new camera locations must appear on a regular meeting agenda for approval.

In July 2010, state legislation increased the citation price from $125 to $158 under the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act. Of the $158, the state takes $83, leaving the city with $75 to split with ATS.

Under the new contract, the city will get $700 per camera per month. Then, a maximum of $4,250 per camera per month would go to ATS. However, there would be a cap of $4,950 per month, and if any camera exceeded that amount, the additional funds would go to the city.

Budget discussions continue
As the City Council heads into the heart of the budget discussion, Finance Director Chris Quinn gave a revenues presentation Tuesday.

Ad valorem receipts for 2012 were at $15,000,700 — accounting for 12.5% of the city’s revenue. The city receives $432 per resident per year by way of ad valorem taxes, gas, communications, local business tax, solid waste franchise fee, state revenue sharing and other taxes.

Last year, the City Council approved a millage rate of 3.99 mills, or $3.99 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Next up, the City Council will hear a presentation on the general fund at the July 10 workshop.

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