Low ticket proceeds tick off lawmakers

State legislators were counting on a new $25 fee on all traffic and other tickets to bring in $25 million this year — but it’s on track to produce less than half that.

Some small city courts have not sent in any fees at all. Some big counties are only on record as having sent $25, the fee from one ticket.

The General Assembly created the fees to offset cuts to the budgets of law enforcement agencies and solicitors’ offices.

With its share of the money, SLED had hoped to buy cars. Other agencies were seeking equipment. Solicitors wanted to hire more attorneys.

“It was all supposed to be for personnel,” said William Bilton, executive director of the Prosecution Coordination Commission. “We have not gotten a penny.”

Lawmakers have relied more and more on fees and fines to pay for ongoing services. It is one way to raise revenue without raising taxes — anathema to the Republican-led House and Senate, and GOP Gov. Mark Sanford.

In spite of the cautionary tale from the new ticket fee, the House is considering a new $15 charge on bail bonds. One new fee would be well short of the dozen enacted last year, but a step in the same direction.

BUDGET SKIRMISH IN THE HOUSE

The lack of income to the state from the fees caused a skirmish last week during House deliberations on next year’s budget.

Republican leaders in the House wanted to compel counties to collect the money and to send it to the state treasurer in a timely manner — or risk losing some of the other money the state sends counties each year.

“A lot of the counties are frankly just not sending this,” said House Majority Leader Rick Quinn, R-Richland. “It may not be fair for us to go out and take that money, but it’s not fair of them not to send it, either.”

Other legislators argued it was wrong to penalize counties for not meeting unrealistic expectations. Some said the state should not have relied on an untested stream of money to pay for something as critical as law enforcement.

The counties fought the proposed penalty. They said county councils cannot control the actions of the elected or appointed officials responsible for collecting the fees — magistrates, clerks of court and treasurers.

“Penalizing somebody who has no ability to correct the problem?” said Robert Croom, assistant director of the S.C. Association of Counties. “That’s not adding accountability to the system.”

The penalty proposal failed narrowly Wednesday in the House Ways and Means Committee. But it could resurface in budget debate this spring, especially the section that prescribes audits for counties not sending the state enough money.

NO SHORTAGE OF THEORIES

For now, the state is not giving up on the $25 fee. However, it is lowering expectations for next year, saying the fee probably will produce only $11 million next year, instead of $25 million.

Why is the money not coming in?

Everyone has a theory:

• Fewer troopers. Three years of state budget cuts have led to fewer troopers on the road. The S.C. Highway Patrol wrote 435,325 tickets in 2003, 16 percent fewer than in the year before and 36 percent fewer than in 2001.

• War. Many state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and local police officers in the National Guard and Reserves have been called up to active duty for the war with Iraq. The civilian law enforcement agencies they work for are required to hold their jobs and pay their salaries for a time, even though the officers are not on the street.

• Bad predictions. The forecast by state economic advisers of the amount the fees would bring the state was not close. Some legislators grumble the estimate was based on the total number of cases, not convictions.

Others say no one could have predicted how the war, Highway Patrol budget cuts and even new highway guardrails — which prevent troopers from crossing interstate medians to pursue speeders in some areas — would affect the number of tickets written.

• Quick turnaround. The General Assembly passed the fee in early June, and it took effect July 1. Training on how to administer it started in late July. It was one of the dozen fee changes last year and prompted some panic among court administrators, who had to train their employees on how to enact them.

Bilton of the Prosecution Coordination Commission said he understands that. “Any time you do something new like this, there’s a learning curve.”

• Other fees. The $25 law enforcement fee is collected after some others, including a $500 public defender fee.

‘IT’S JUST A MESS’

Legislators, court professionals and treasurers acknowledge one of the biggest problems is administering and collecting the $25 fee.

It is collected in three different types of courts. It is sent through at least three sets of hands: clerks of courts and magistrates, then county and municipal treasurers, then the state.

There is no set schedule for sending in the money — monthly, quarterly or otherwise.

State Treasurer Grady Patterson, a Democrat, said it’s realistic to lower expectations for how much money will come in.

“When you cut state expenditures, you have to cut services in a community,” Patterson spokesman Trav Robertson said. “Whether you like it or not, it means fewer policemen patrolling and giving tickets.

“It means combining some court sessions, doing it once a month instead of twice.”

But Robertson also said the treasurer wants legislation making it clear how and when to collect the fee.

“You have to ask yourself, was the legislation written in such a manner that it is enforceable and collectible?” he said. “They’re trying to go back and clean up what they did the first time.”

Dorchester County Clerk of Court Cheryl Graham has been with the clerk’s office for 25 years. She said she has become used to the “panicky time” around the first of the fiscal year when new fees kick in.

“I tell you, every July when we get new fees, it’s amazing what’s added to take in,” Graham said. “It’s just a mess.”

Reach Bauerlein at (803) 771-8485 or vbauerlein@thestate.com