Refunding $20M in school bus camera tickets could fall to Town of Hempstead

The Town of Hempstead could be on the hook for some $20 million in refunded school bus camera tickets because of an amendment to its contract with BusPatrol that limits the company's liability if the town were found to be issuing tickets without authority.

Over the last two years, the town wrote roughly 80,000 tickets within school districts that do not participate in the program, a finding that prompted Town Supervisor Don Clavin to demand BusPatrol refund any associated fines.

But the December 2023 amendment means if Hempstead were to lose any of the recently filed lawsuits, taxpayers could be responsible for refunding any fines paid on those tickets, three lawyers told Newsday.

Town officials said this week that no financial burden from any improperly issued tickets would fall on the town.

"Rest assured; this will not cost the taxpayers a dime," town spokesman Brian Devine said in an emailed statement.

Devine did not address specific questions from Newsday about the amendment or how the town will avoid liability.

Both town attorney John Maccarone and BusPatrol CEO Karoon Monfared signed the amendment on Dec. 22, 2023.  It says BusPatrol would be responsible for paying up to $250,000 in annual legal fees for the town to defend lawsuits against the school bus camera program "based on its constitutionality or the Town’s authority to enforce it within the Town’s boundaries."

The amendment continues, "Reimbursement of fees and costs under this provision represents the Town’s sole remedy against BusPatrol ... and that in no event shall BusPatrol be liable for any damages resulting from an adverse court decision, including, but not limited to, any claim for unrealized or lost program revenue."

In no event shall BusPatrol be liable for any damages resulting from an adverse court decision, including, but not limited to, any claim for unrealized or lost program revenue.

— Contract amendment between Town of Hempstead and BusPatrol

The original contract had given the town broad protection against liability. BusPatrol would not only defend the town against school bus camera lawsuits, but would also be responsible for covering any judgments, penalties and court costs associated with a legal defeat.

Those provisions remain in the contract for cases not involving the town ticketing drivers without authority or constitutional issues. BusPatrol declined to answer questions about the contract amendment, referring all questions to the Town of Hempstead.

Since late January, three class-action lawsuits have been filed — two against BusPatrol and the Town of Hempstead, and one against BusPatrol alone — all of which claim that school bus camera tickets were being written without legal authority.

The contract amendment does appear to increase the town's liability if it were found to be issuing tickets without authority, lawyers consulted by Newsday said.

Gregory Louis, a City University of New York law professor, said the amendment means that BusPatrol must only cover up to $250,000 in legal fees. "The provision states that BusPatrol isn't on the hook for anything else," he said.

Paul Sabatino, an attorney and former Suffolk County legislative counsel, said the amendment gives BusPatrol "a strong argument that [the company] has managed somehow to limit its liability to $250,000."

"I can’t see a logical reason to do that in 2023, unless somebody someplace — and I think it’s likelier that it was BusPatrol — figured out they were doing something that violated the statute," Sabatino said.

Both the state law, passed in 2019, and the local statute, adopted in 2022, require school districts to sign on to the town's bus camera program before tickets can be written from buses owned or operated by those districts. 

I can’t see a logical reason to do that in 2023, unless somebody someplace — and I think it’s likelier that it was BusPatrol — figured out they were doing something that violated the statute.

— Paul Sabatino, attorney

Hempstead has already acknowledged that it may have been writing school bus camera tickets that violated the statute.

After Newsday reported last month that Valley Stream 13, Baldwin, Hempstead and Lawrence districts hadn't signed onto the program, Maccarone wrote to BusPatrol, "The program is potentially overreaching its legal authority."

In that letter, Maccarone also said all tickets issued that violate the law should be "voided immediately," all fines collected from those tickets should be refunded and no further tickets should be issued on behalf of districts that don’t participate in the program.

BusPatrol’s initial response to the town’s letter noted it’s the town’s responsibility to issue tickets. The company later said it would "take appropriate action in accordance with the law."

Since then, the town and BusPatrol have been in discussions over how to proceed with voiding any improperly issued tickets and refunding any fines paid on those citations, according to both parties, but neither answered questions about when those decisions would be made.

"The town needs to have BusPatrol refund all those illegal tickets, which would make motorists whole without cost to the taxpayers," said Martin Bienstock, an attorney who has brought lawsuits against school bus camera programs in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Bienstock also told Newsday the amendment appears to limit BusPatrol's liability.

It’s unclear if tickets are still being written in the nonparticipating school districts, but two drivers cited last year within the Baldwin school district told Newsday their tickets have not been tossed out.

Christina Crocker, who was ticketed on Grand Avenue in Baldwin last April, had a court date scheduled for last week. Just days before the hearing, she got a letter from BusPatrol saying her case had been postponed.

The letter did not provide a new court date, but it did give multiple options for her to pay the ticket instead.

"It's funny that they won't void it," Crocker said. "They still want to try to get that money."