Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/07/757.asp
11/9/2005
Missouri Filled With Speed Traps
More than a dozen Missouri cities receive between a quarter and half of their city budget from speeding tickets.
More than a dozen Missouri municipalities receive between a quarter and half of their entire budget from traffic tickets. The practice is so widespread that the legislature placed the state's "Director of Revenue" in charge of the speeding ticket point system.
In the north St. Louis County town of Bel-Ridge, for example, police issue the equivalent of three speeding tickets for each resident annually. About $699,000 of the town's total budget of $1.4 million comes from these traffic fines.
The town generating the most speeding ticket revenue, Country Club Hills, earns sixty-one percent of its income from tickets. The town's mayor was recently sentenced to five years in prison for unrelated theft.
The following cities make a quarter or more of their budget from traffic citations:| City | Ticket Revenue
as % of Budget |
|---|
| Country Club Hills | 61% |
| Bella Villa | 59% |
| Calverton Park | 56% |
| Bel-Ridge | 48%
|
| Moline Acres | 41% |
| Cool Valley | 37% |
| Bellerive Acres | 36% |
| Vinita Terrace | 35% |
| Flordell Hills | 30% |
| Velda City | 30% |
| Marlborough | 28%
|
| St. George | 28% |
| Charlack | 26%
|
| Greendale | 26% |
| Clarkson Valley | 25% |
| Edmundson | 25% |
Source: I-Team Ranks Top Traffic Ticket Writers (KSDK-TV, 11/9/2005)
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