Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz is counting on scofflaws to help cover the city's budget through a revised schedule that would double some traffic fines and increase the cost of a speeding ticket an average of 32 percent.
An ordinance to be introduced at next Tuesday's Anchorage Assembly meeting proposes inflation-based adjustments for dozens of traffic tickets and city fees. Berkowitz had previously cited increased city fines and fees as a way to shore up the city's revenue shortfall and to pay for more police officers and firefighters. The details of the proposal became available this week through the Assembly's public safety committee.
While traffic tickets make up the bulk of the proposed changes, fees would also increase for child care center licenses and for users of city parks and recreation facilities. Berkowitz's administration is calling the proposal the "first significant revision" to the city's fines and fee schedule in nearly 15 years.
"Since 2001 ... inflation has risen 46 percent and the costs of enforcement have increased, while the relative magnitude of consequence for traffic violators has diminished," city officials wrote in a memo accompanying the ordinance.
The administration is estimating about $1.1 million in new revenue from speeding tickets alone, and hopes to hire more cops to enforce the laws.
The memo from the Berkowitz administration said the overall proposed changes will bring the city in line with traffic tickets issued by the Alaska State Troopers and other "comparable jurisdictions." It also said the proposed adjustments "are intended to promote safer driver behavior."
Some tickets double under the proposal, but others increase modestly, by between $10 and $20. The offenses range from failing to stop at a stop sign to putting glass or debris on the roadway. But the most comprehensive changes come in the category of speeding tickets, including school and construction zones, with varying levels of tickets based on speed.
Right now, drivers can be fined $8 for every mile over the speed limit between 3 mph over and 19 mph over. The fine is $12 a mile between 11 mph and 20 mph over, and $20 per mile for 31 mph and over.
The Berkowitz administration proposal would impose flat fines of $90 for driving between 1 and 10 mph over the speed limit, and $180 for driving between 11 mph and 20 mph over the speed limit and $360 for driving between 21 mph and 30 mph over. Speeding fines would ramp up steadily from there.
Under the new schedule, the penalty for driving 10 mph above a posted speed limit would increase only slightly, from $80 to $90. But the new schedule also eliminates some of the sliding scale that formerly was in effect; it would levy the same $90 fine for a violator going 3 mph over the limit as 10 mph. Under the old system, going 3 mph over would result in a $24 fine. In the new, it's $90, a 275 percent increase.
The heftiest increases to speeding tickets would be for drivers who surpass posted speed limits by more than 30 mph. A driver caught going 40 mph above the speed limit would be liable for a $1,200 ticket, compared to the current $800 ticket.
Here's a sampling of other proposed traffic ticket changes:
• Operating a vehicle in violation of a provisional license: $100, from $50
• Driving the wrong direction in a traffic circle: $150, from $75
• Passing in a no-pass zone: $150, from $90
• Failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk: $100, from $60
• Illegal use of skateboards, roller skates, etc. on a sidewalk or path: $100, from $60
The ordinance also introduces a $300 fine for drag racing.
Berkowitz is also proposing to increase fines for pedestrian and bicycle tickets. Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in the downtown business district, for example, could result in a $50 ticket under the proposal, up from the current $20.
The Anchorage Police Department and the city prosecutor's office reviewed the fines and fees, and the city treasury conducted a revenue analysis, according to the administration's memo.
Child care center licenses and fees associated with the facilities would change under the proposal. The proposed ordinance introduces a $50 license for a child care center for between one and eight children, as well as a $30 fee for a plan review for a center of that size. Licensing fees for larger establishments would also increase.
The administration has also talked about raising user fees for the Parks and Recreation Department, but those have not been announced yet.
Lance Wilber, city budget director, was not available for an interview Tuesday on the proposed changes.
The Assembly's public safety committee is scheduled to discuss the proposed changes at its noon meeting Wednesday. The ordinance is set to be introduced at next Tuesday's Assembly meeting.
Note: This story has been edited to reflect that riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is illegal only in the downtown business district. It has also been corrected from a previous version, which misstated proposed changes to two types of fines. Operating a vehicle in violation of a provisional license would increase to $100 from $50 under the proposal, not to $200 from $100, as the story said originally. Passing in a no-pass zone would increase to $150 from $90, not to $200 from $185.