Last night I had dinner with one of the Bandon city councilors and discussed the Coquille budget with him and the percentages I had discovered. A question has arisen from this chat about what percentage of fines are held by the city. Last summer I thought Mayor Britton advised us that it was a 50-50 split but I may have misheard him.
Based on the 2008 adopted budget of $75K – 50% would mean that $150K in fines is actually assessed.
Another citizen advised me that the percentage was 40% which would translate to $187.5K.
This councilor believed that Bandon only shared in 15% of fine revenue which would require $500K in fines to meet the $75K projected fine revenue.
Bandon, in fact, uses this as a raionale for giving so many warnings compared to actual citations. So does anyone know the actual percentage that the City of Coquille receives from generated fines?
The real impact to our local society, schools, jobs, unemployment, vacancy can be argued at any rate but I would like to know what the actual number is and why the City projects to increase fine revenue.
Also, which councilor is up for reelection this term? Anyone? Thanks, post or send me an email.
