Proponents hail years-in-the-making ruling eliminating Nassau, Suffolk fees for red-light tickets

Critics of red-light camera fines are celebrating a recent appellate court ruling that deemed county-imposed fees tied to the violation illegal and are urging Long Island officials to pay back drivers.

The administrative fees of up to $100 tacked on to $50 red-light camera tickets were found to have violated state law in a Wednesday decision by the Appellate Division, Second Department. 

Though the court rulings do not call for eliminating the red-light camera programs, the programs have long stirred debate. Proponents point to reductions in crashes involving injuries, while opponents have questioned other aspects of safety — such as an increase in rear-end crashes in Suffolk — and they have criticized the extra fees.

It was unclear Friday whether attorneys for the counties would apply to appeal to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, and if not, how much the recent decision would cost the counties.

"The County Executive has budgeted for this contingency and the current budget will not be severely impacted by the court’s decision," Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Nassau County, said.

Suffolk County spokesman Mike Martino declined to comment, citing pending litigation. 

The win for drivers could possibly cost the counties hundreds of millions of dollars, sending a message to local governments benefiting from the revenue-generating fees, experts and lawmakers said.

"Drivers are owed back every penny that was taken illegally by the counties," said Jay Beeber, executive director of policy at the National Motorists Association based in Wisconsin, an advocacy group that hailed the decision as "a win for the rule of law."

Beeber said the decision "should serve as a warning to any legislature that wants to start an automated enforcement program." 

"A lot of times these programs go south. They either don’t bring in the revenue they expect or wind up costing them more and that’s because an automated system is not the best way to enforce traffic laws," said Beeber, who generally opposes photo-enforcement traffic violation programs. 

The ruling sent the case back down to the lower courts to enter judgment. In civil cases such as this one, judgments determine whether, and how much, money is owed. 

Appellate judges also ordered the lower court in Nassau to determine whether the case can proceed as a class action. That status would potentially allow the plaintiffs to win a judgment on behalf of a broad group of motorists who have paid the extra fees over the years.

David Raimondo, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the Nassau and Suffolk cases, said the county should be forced to repay each and every motorist for any expenses incurred beyond $50, plus a $25 late fee.

"This is money they wrongfully took and have to pay it back," he told Newsday.

Raimondo said it’s difficult to determine exactly how much money the counties collected through the extra fees, in part because that information was omitted during the trials’ discovery phases. But he estimated it at around $160 million in Suffolk, and between $200 million and $400 million in Nassau.

Suffolk County took in about $25.9 million in 2022 through the red-light camera program, including nearly $10 million through administrative fees and other payments, according to a county report released July 2024. Suffolk used to charge a $30 administrative fee, but stopped doing so in 2023.

Newsday previously reported that Nassau took in about $64 million from the red-light camera program in 2022, of which about $44 million came from the county-imposed fees. The county charges drivers $150 per ticket: $50 for the fine plus a $45 "driver responsibility fee" and a $55 "public safety fee."

Nassau County Legis. Seth Koslow (D-Merrick) said as soon as the decision came down on Wednesday the Democrats’ legal team "put out feelers" on what they could do to remedy the situation. 

The Democratic caucus had been opposed to renewing the red-light camera program in Nassau because they believed the fees were excessive. In May, Nassau's Republican majority voted to ask Albany lawmakers to renew the program, which would have expired this month.

Lawmakers did not renew Suffolk's red-light camera program, which is set to expire on Sunday.

Koslow, who is the likely Democratic pick to oppose County Executive Bruce Blakeman in November, said he believes the red-light camera program is a worthy safety measure but the fees "exploited" drivers. 

He is working on a bill that reimburses drivers, launches a public awareness campaign and forms an oversight committee "to make sure this doesn’t happen again."

While his "Fair Fees and Accountability Act" isn't fully ready, he believes Nassau County needs "to show commitment to the community and try to put money back into people’s pockets," he said.

"It’s going to be a lot of money, but we need to do something to reimburse people because it wasn’t fair," Koslow said.

Suffolk County Legis. Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), a longtime critic of the fees, said Friday, "This has always been taxation by citation."

Trotta sponsored the bill eliminating the county’s $30 fee in 2022 after Republicans took the majority in the legislature.

"It’s a huge win for the little guy. It was never about anything more than raising money," said Trotta, who felt vindicated in calling the program a "cashgrab" for years.

"I told these guys, ‘This is not going to end well,’" Trotta said. "In a nutshell, I was right again. The law was clear."

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.