Revenue creativity has its limits; city gives up on 'accident cost-recovery fee' against at-fault drivers

The Police Department has been fairly imaginative in coming up with new ways to bring in revenue to help bolster what it gets from the city's major bill-payer, property taxes.

Red-light and speed-enforcement cameras, for instance, are expected to generate some $750,000 a year in revenue, and the city has a new vehicle impoundment fee that is expected to bring in $200,000 in the next nine months.

Creativity apparently has its limits.

The Police Department as well as the Fire Department are now expecting to forego an estimated $375,000 in annual revenue that they had planned to take in the current budget year via an “accident cost-recovery fee.” The idea was to charge at-fault drivers a fee to help cover the cost of police officers and firefighters who respond to accident scenes.

The Police Department had estimated the fee might generate $200,000 a year for it and the Fire Department thought it might get $175,000 a year from the fee.

According to new city budget documents, the accident fee was based on a program in Florida, which the Florida Legislature made illegal this year.

As a result, Cedar Rapids' city attorney is recommending that the city not charge such fees, the city's budget documents note.

“Program implementation would be problematic based on legal challenges,” the city documents state.