Charles City turned down for traffic camera state permits until at least 2026

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
All four of the traffic camera systems that Charles City used for several months at the beginning of this year to identify vehicles breaking the speed limits will likely remain turned off for at least two more years.
The Iowa Department of Transportation issued its decisions Tuesday on 348 applications from communities around the state to use automated traffic cameras to monitor traffic and catch speeders.
More than half of the applications were denied, including eight applications from Charles City for cameras at four locations, with a camera pointed in each direction at each location.
All of the Charles City applications were denied because the cameras were not in operation prior to Jan. 1, 2024, as required in a new state law passed by the legislature and signed by the governor that took effect July 1. The cameras have not been used in Charles City to issue citations since the law took effect.
“Locations not already using a system prior to Jan. 1, 2024, are currently being reviewed by the DOT and will not be issued a permit before July 1, 2026,” the Iowa DOT said.
Charles City began using the cameras on each of the major entrances and exits from the city in March, after the City Council approved a recommendation from Police Chief Hugh Anderson to use them to get people to obey the speed limits.
The Charles City Police Department worked with Maryland company Altumint Inc. to install cameras at four of Charles City’s major arteries, on Gilbert Street northeast of town, Highway 14 going west, Highway 18 going east and South Grand Avenue in the south.
Altumint supplied the equipment free of charge and was sharing revenue with the city from speeding citations that were issued. The citations were civil infractions, not traffic tickets.
City Administrator Steve Diers said Thursday that the city collected $334,291 as its share of the revenue with Altumint during the several months that the cameras were in operation. He said he did not know how many citations that represented.
Diers said the money would likely be put toward the planned City Hall and Police Department renovations, so less will need to be borrowed.
The traffic cameras have been controversial throughout the state where they have been used, including in Charles City, prompting the Legislature to pass and the governor to sign the new law.
It requires any community using automated traffic camera systems to have a permit for every camera and to justify its use in each location. One of the provisions was that only communities that were already using traffic camera systems by Jan. 1, 2024, were allowed to continue using them while they applied for the state permits.
Ten Iowa cities or counties including Charles City had systems that hadn’t gone online before Jan 1., but they applied for permits anyway because of ambiguities in the law. Applications for 60 permits for systems that hadn’t been operating before Jan. 1 were filed by the communities and denied by the state.
In addition to the eight by Charles City, there was one denied for Davenport, one for Fredericksburg, four for LaPorte City, eight in Lee County, 20 in Marion, six in Marshalltown, and four each in Maynard, Sioux City and Tama.
The Iowa DOT received applications for 348 automated traffic enforcement locations from 28 communities, the department said Tuesday. The new law required decisions on the permit applications by Sept. 30.
“Of the 348 location applications received, 154 locations were approved and 194 were denied,” the Iowa DOT said.
Other reasons for not granting a permit include “not necessary,” meaning critical safety issues don’t exist at that location to a degree that control of vehicle speeds is essential; “not least restrictive means,” meaning other means of controlling speed at that location are available; and “not appropriate,” meaning use of a traffic camera system at that location does not comply with the law’s requirements or is not the right method to control vehicle speeds, according to the Iowa DOT.
The Iowa DOT said the law defines critical traffic safety issues as including traffic violations resulting in a traffic collision or accident, or traffic collisions and accidents resulting in serious injury or death.
Any existing automated traffic enforcement locations that were denied a permit had to be turned off as of Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Iowa DOT said.
Social Share