New ordinance could provide revenue boost

The city of McMinnville will see a fast increase in revenue now that a new ordinance allowing first-time school zone speeders to attend safe driving school is full throttle.

The ordinance passed last month will allow judges to use their discretion in sentencing offenders to safety school. The class currently costs $100.

In the past, the class has generated well over $100,000 in revenue for the city. The class had two exceptions ? offenders in school zones and anyone caught drag racing.

With the exception now lifted for school zone offenses, judges are free to send first-time offenders to the safety school.

?Right off hand I can?t think of any repeat offenders,? said city court reporter Shirley Rackley. ?No one stands out. If there were repeat offenders, I think it would.?

The $100 per person collected from the safety school goes straight into the city of McMinnville?s general fund.

?The cost is about the same,? said McMinnville Police Chief Joe Melton at an earlier council meeting, ?whether you pay the ticket or go to the class.?

The cost might be the same for violators but it works out better for the city. Money collected through straight tickets has to be split with the state.

Last year, there were 256 offenses in school zones. If that number remains the same, the end result could be an increase in revenue for the city if all first-time offenders are offered driving school.

That?s an extra $25,600 which will be collected through driving school that wasn?t available before the new ordinance. The city will only benefit by half of that ? $12,800 ? because it would have collected half anyway through its share of ticket fines.

?There were no school zone violations in June,? said Rackley, ?because there was no school in session.?

The unusually low number in July is also easily explained. Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary was the only school in session for the last week of July.

Rackley reports about 20 percent of all violations in school zones during 2005 were teachers.

School zone speeding
A complete breakdown of school zone offenses for 2005 shows: