KERSEY, Colo — It’s a sales pitch that’s played out in small city and town council chambers across Colorado: photo radar systems are a win-win — slowing traffic down while allowing local governments to collect much-needed revenue.
But what often isn’t discussed in those meetings is the profit the businesses pitching those systems stand to make. State law bans towns and cities from paying their vendors based on the number of tickets issued.
A Steve On Your Side investigation found some photo radar vendors have created pricing structures to comply with that law, but still profit as towns write more photo radar tickets. In some cases, vendors running the systems capture more of the revenue from the traffic enforcement program than the town or city where the camera is located…