City hit with big bill from Redflex

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - The company that owned and operated Albuquerque’s red light cameras just hit the city with a bill for $4.5 million.

If you thought the controversy would die when the red light cameras were killed, think again.

“Redflex says their percentage of the outstanding amount comes to $4 million we’re looking at the accounting issues,” said Assistant City Attorney Greg Wheeler.

Earlier this month, the city received a demand letter from Redflex.

The letter said the city of Albuquerque owes the Phoenix-based red light camera company $4.5 million.

Redflex said that is it’s cut of the roughly $13 million in unpaid tickets from the past four years.

“Council is asking us to look at what their options are to deal with that claim and also to collect the past due fines,” Wheeler said.

Under the old contract, Redflex was responsible for collecting the red light camera fines.

However, that contract was terminated.

The city attorney’s office said it’s now up to the city council to decide how to go about collecting the outstanding fines.

“They could send these to outside collection agencies other than Redflex, they could consider having legal file lawsuits for some of the largest outstanding amounts in court,” said Wheeler.

The city said even though it has yet to work out exactly how it will collect on those unpaid red light camera tickets, it is required to go after them.

“As a matter of state law we can’t just let those people go, so there will be a collection effort, the problems not going to go away,” Wheeler said.

The city is disputing Redflex’s $4.5-million claim.

Saying among other things it is not realistic to expect everyone who has not paid up, to suddenly pay now.

If the city collects the $13 million in outstanding fines, it would split its cut 50-50 with the state.

People with unpaid tickets more than four years old are in the clear, because the statute of limitations on them has run out.