CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH
MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 10, 2008
TO: D. Mike Good, City Manager
FROM: Franklin L. Hileman, Manager of Intergovernmental Relations
SUBJECT: A Resolution Supporting Enactment of a Bill to Amend Section 318.18, Florida Statutes and Enactment of a Bill to Amend Section 318.21, Florida Statutes Pertaining to Funding of a Traffic Magistrate Program
PURPOSE:
Consideration of a Resolutions in support of each of two proposed bills to allow counties or any municipality to impose a surcharge on non-criminal, civil and traffic infractions to fund the County Traffic Magistrate program.
BACKGROUND:
Broward County has previously funded a traffic magistrate program that provides magistrates to hear traffic infractions at satellite facilities. Under that program, individual police departments, including Hallandale Beach, were able to avoid appearing at the downtown courthouse and were able to schedule hearings in a way that allowed officers to appear on multiple tickets which increased the efficiency. The State is constitutionally bound to provide for the judiciary, but has refused to fund this program. The Broward County Commission stopped funding the program temporarily, but has now approved funding from January 2009 through June 2009.
DISCUSSION:
The Traffic Magistrate program provides an efficient means of handling traffic court appearances for traffic citations. The City Police Department, under the traffic magistrate program, could coordinate court appearances with officer’s shifts. Currently, all of the City’s traffic citations and municipal ordinance violations are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and the City’s officers appear at the same time as five other jurisdictions, including Ft. Lauderdale and Hollywood. The net result is a huge number of police officers appearing all at the same time. This results in on-duty officers being taken off patrol for long periods of time for all departments and does not account for the schedules of officers who are not on duty and the resulting overtime incurred by all cities.
As a result of the overloading of the system, the inability of the Judges to process the overwhelming number of citations and changes the judges have instituted regarding how citations are written, the Court has been dismissing a substantial amount of citations that previously would not have been dismissed. The traffic magistrate program was terminated effective September, 2008 and therefore due to the payment cycle of the County, which is basically a 60-day cycle, the actual fiscal impacts to the City will not be known until the November remittance report and check is received from the County. This report is as of this writing overdue and is expected by the police department any day.
The City currently has an interlocal agreement with the County to process parking violations whereby the City pays a base fee of $2.50 per citation and an additional $5.00 for each citation which is subsequently paid by the offender. The County collects a portion of criminal and noncriminal infractions processed by the County pursuant to various Sections within Chapter 318. Essentially, the County collects $3.00 for State and municipal criminal infractions and some noncriminal infractions and an additional $2.00 is collected and remitted to the municipality.
The City collected for fiscal year 07’-08’ for all infractions, including parking citations, a total net, after paying all County contributions, $195,340.68. Staff attempted to evaluate the fiscal impact of the termination of the program, The traffic magistrate program was terminated effective September, 2008 and therefore due to the payment cycle of the County, which is basically a 60-day cycle, the actual fiscal impacts to the City will not be known until the November remittance report and check is received from the County. This report is as of this writing overdue and is expected by the police department any day.
The County Commission voted to fund the traffic magistrate program from January 2009 to June of 2009, because the County Commission believes all stakeholders should bring a coordinated and concentrated lobbying effort to the Florida Legislature this Session to convince the Legislature to provide funding mechanisms to the program. In accordance with the County’s position, two bills have been prepared by counsel for the Broward League of Cities to be presented to the Florida Legislature to create an alternative funding source for the program.
The first bill proposes amending Chapter 318, 18 F.S. This bill would allow any county commission or unit of local government to impose by ordinance, a surcharge on non-criminal or criminal infractions in Sections 318.17, of up to $18.00 to fund “state court facilities”’. Up to $3.00 of the surcharge may be used by the circuit or county court system to fund the traffic magistrate program. Up to 25% of any remaining revenue may be used to support local law libraries. This surcharge cannot be waived by the Court. Any excess revenues may be used to support local law libraries, including library facilities located in or near the county courthouse or annexes. Although this bill was drafted by the Broward League of Cities counsel, staff has been advised by League staff that the Broward League of Cities will not be sponsoring this Bill.
The Broward league will sponsor a second bill which proposes amending Chapter 318.21 and allows the County, and only the county, by ordinance, to impose a $3.00 surcharge on parking fines and other civil traffic infractions for the sole purpose of funding the traffic magistrate program. Any excess revenues collected of what is required to fully fund the traffic magistrate program “shall be used to fund areas of the court system within the county.”
Staff has been in continuous communication with the Broward League of Cities staff and the situation remains fluid as to which bills will ultimately be supported by the Broward league of Cities. Staff contacted the Florida League of Cities and to date the Florida League has received a copy of a Resolution from the City of Wilton Manors asking the Florida Legislature to fully fund the Broward court system and the traffic magistrate program specifically. Rebecca O’Hare from the Florida League advised they had one more policy committee meeting prior to the Conference next week and if this legislation was something that benefited municipalities statewide, the Florida Leaguer would certainly support it. She asked that staff keep her up to date.
RECOMMENDATION:
The City Commission:
1. Consider adoption of the Resolution in support of the two bills to be presented to the Florida Legislature during the 2009 Legislative Session and direct staff and the City lobbyist to seek a sponsor for these bills in both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate.
2. Should the Broward League of Cities elect to only support the bill amending Section 318.21, F.S., allowing only the County to impose the surcharge, staff would recommend the City Commission adopt an independent resolution in support of the bill amending Section 318.18, F.S. and allowing municipalities to impose an $18 surcharge and direct staff and the City lobbyist to seek a sponsor for this bill in both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate.
Reviewed:
_______________________________ __________
D. Mike Good, City Manager Date
_____Approved _____Disapproved _____Hold for Discussion