Red light camera revenue was diverted from road safety fund, audit finds

Ottawa's auditor general has found that millions of dollars in revenue generated by red light cameras — money intended for road safety initiatives — has instead been diverted into the city's general operating budget and to police.

Red-light cameras installed after 2020 have generated over $41 million in revenue, according to a new report from the office of auditor general Nathalie Gougeon.

In 2019, council directed any revenues from those cameras to be transferred to the city's road safety reserve fund, but that hasn't happened, the report says.

Instead, of the $41 million that came in between 2021 and 2024, roughly 80 per cent — about $33 million — was allocated to the city's general operating budget. The remaining 20 per cent — about $8 million — was transferred to the Ottawa Police Service (OPS).

"The social contract that we have with residents is that we're going to use this revenue to make roads safer," said Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster in an interview Saturday with CBC.

"We promised residents that this revenue was going to go to something specific — and it should."

According to Gougeon's audit, when the city's road safety action plan was forged in 2019, city management set an annual baseline revenue target for the cameras "outlining the amount to continue to allocate to the city's general operating budget."

The baseline was set internally at $11.75 million, based on the average revenue from cameras installed prior to 2020. Anything that came in beyond that — aside from money set aside for OPS — would be transferred to the road safety reserve fund, Gougeon wrote.

But since 2021, revenue has constantly fallen short of that $11.75 million target, her audit found, with no new money going to the reserve fund, despite the fact 24 new red light cameras have been installed since 2020.

According to Gougeon's report, city management cited reduced traffic during the pandemic and changes in driver behaviour as reasons for lower ticket volumes.

But according to her office's own analysis of ticket volume generated by the cameras post-2020, there was approximately $10.7 million in gross revenue that could have been put into the reserve fund.

'Can impact the level of public trust'

City staff told auditors they assumed council's initial direction would not impact the operating budget and believed that unless the baseline target was met, no money would be directed to the road safety reserve.

The audit also revealed a separate decision made in 2019 to allocate roughly $3 million in red light camera revenue annually to the OPS "to help close a funding gap."

"Not allocating net new revenues generated from new red light cameras installed after 2020 to the dedicated road safety reserve fund means that these funds will not be used exclusively for road safety issues," Gougeon wrote.

"This can impact the level of public trust in the program as well as limit road safety outcomes that could be achieved through road safety initiatives funded by red light camera revenues."

'Shocked and upset'

Troster, who sits on the city's public works and infrastructure committee, said she was "shocked and upset" by the findings, especially given that the promise to reinvest revenue in road safety was a key selling point when the cameras were first introduced.

She said council should have been better informed about how the money was being allocated, and that it should have been brought to both the finance committee and public works and infrastructure.

"Those of us who are on public works and infrastructure didn't even see this bait-and-switch happening," she said.

"That's why we have an auditor, and that's why I'm so grateful for this report [since] it means that we can fix things."

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante, whose ward generates some of the highest red light camera revenues, said many councillors and residents "were generally confused as to where this money was going."

Plante says she's trying to fully understand the report's details — for instance, did police spend their funds on road safety initiatives like monitoring a protest — before delivering her final assessment.

She also said she's optimistic the audit will ultimately help speed up road safety projects.

"There should be some community benefit to these cameras," Plante said.

According to Gougeon's audit, city management will review how revenues from the red light camera program get allocated to ensure the process is in line with both "base budget allocations" and council's expectations.

The report will be tabled at the city's audit committee on April 29.

READ | The office of the auditor general's full report