Kane County traffic tickets may see $30 increase

Kane County motorists may still see a $30 increase in traffic ticket fines, even if it takes Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti returning to county board chambers in his new judicial robes.

Board members rejected the increase for the second time this week, but Barsanti isn't giving up.

The new $30 fee would apply to all defendants judged guilty or given supervision in every offense from felonies to misdemeanors, business crimes and petty offenses. That includes traffic tickets and citations for overflowing Dumpsters. The fee would add to the underlying cost of the ticket itself, increasing the total fine.

Barsanti said the fee is needed to fund the Child Advocacy Center. The center is a safe haven for children during investigations of sexual or physical abuse. Grant funding for the center is nearly extinct. The center now relies on riverboat gambling profits to stay open. Barsanti wants to end the reliance on those funds with the new fee.

In fact, he believes the fee could generate about $1 million a year for the center.

The problem, board members said, is that $1 million is just a guess. Barsanti admitted that fact.

“This money is taken out of bail, or people who pay fines and costs to the court, which is not everybody,” Barsanti explained. “We looked at this from several different directions. How many cases come through the system? How many of those are going to pay money? You don't know.”

Board members said they want a formal revenue study to get as close to knowing those answers as possible. For instance, if the new fee brought in $3 million which is far beyond the immediate needs of the Child Advocacy Center it would be hard to legally justify the $30 amount.

“I have a real problem with charging, not a $5 fee, but a $30 fee to someone for a 10-mile-over traffic ticket or for a small business offense,” board member Cathy Hurlbut said. “We never pass a fee like this without some sort of accounting as to what this fee is going to bring in revenues and whether the fees are justified.”

Board members rejected Barsanti's proposal, which will be his last crack at getting the fee approved while he is still the state's attorney. However, Barsanti said he'd return even after taking his judicial seat to see the fee through.