As I have been working ever so hard today, to bring good
radio to you fine listeners tomorrow, my mind got stuck on this whole tag issue
the State of Florida is considering.  As reported by the Tampa Tribune and other news organizations, it is going to cos tthe State approximately $31 million dollars to pay for the change. The reasonstated by or “fiscally conservative” Governor is that every one of six vehicles that runs the toll plazas around the State, tag is either misread or not read
at all. He further stated that we don’t want someone to get a ticket they didn’t
deserve and we want to catch those who do deserve it. As well as going on about
how the tag will be easier for Law Enforcement and the public to read.

So I began to do some digging. I contacted the Florida DHSMV
main office here in Tallahassee and they informed me that the State of Florida,
according to state statute 316.0083 the fine for a red-light camera $158.00.
The state Department of Revenue receives $70.00 toward towards the general
fund. Now if the bill is not paid and a Uniformed Traffic Citation is issued
that number goes up. . Now the DHSMV spokesman was not sure how much money from
each turnpike ticket goes to the State of Florida so we contacted the Florida
Turnpike office for some clarification.

I spoke with a person in the public information office who
advised the following. If you run through the Sunpass line and have no pass,
you will receive a letter in the mail to pay the toll amount plus a $2.50
service fee, which basically pays for the process to notify you. If after 30
days you have not paid the toll and fee, another letter is issued requesting
the same. After 60 days you are issued a third letter and asked to pay the toll
amount and a $25.00 fee, which the Turnpike keeps. If after 90 days no action
has been made by the owner of the vehicle then a UTC is issued where the
infraction occurs, and then and only then will the state receive revenue.

Now based on the above information we are going to leave the
Turnpike out of our little equation based on the fact that it will take 90days
and failure to act until the Department of Revenue actually sees any money. So $31million
divided by $70.00 = 442,857 tickets need to be issued and paid before the tag
change cost is paid for. That is if the State of Florida dedicates the revenue
from red-light cameras to pay for it and nothing else, which they won’t. Seems
like a waste of money to me, but heck what do I know I am just a silly old
Pirate Hunter.~WD