T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY The speed camera on Lincoln Way, one of two installed in Marshalltown last summer, has issued over 4,700 citations over a six-month period.

The two automated traffic enforcement (ATE) cameras installed in Marshalltown last summer — one on Lincoln Way and another on South 12th Avenue/Governor Road — have issued 7,026 citations in their first six months of operation, according to officials with the Marshalltown Police Department.

MPD Capt. Chris Jones said the total gross revenue from paid and processed tickets so far is $424,225, but over 40 percent of the citations issued last year still haven’t been paid. As of Friday morning, 4,176 of them (about 59.4 percent of the total number) were paid in 2023.

Jones explained that the initial window to pay a ticket is 30 days, and second and third notices are sent out at 60 and 90 days before the driver is considered to be in default. A court summons could then be issued, but no final decision on whether that will be the preferred course of action has been reached, with Jones not wanting to bog down the court system and hoping to come up with a “feasible” plan.

“You’re looking at potentially a 60 to 90 day window of notices, so that would go back to October. We’ll have to figure out what the best option for us is,” Jones said. “There may be 60 to 90 days before it actually defaults, and we haven’t really got a default final number yet because it’s still pending.”

Additionally, Sensys Gatso, the company that provides the cameras, takes a $35 cut from each paid ticket for “the use and maintenance of the monitoring equipment and their office assistance with citation, record, and payment processing.”

Of the two sites, data on the city website indicates that the Lincoln Way camera has issued a substantially higher number of tickets than the one on Governor Road. In its first full month of operation, 1,182 citations were issued from the Lincoln Way camera compared to just 442 on Governor Road, but the numbers have generally trended downward since then. In December, just 571 citations were issued on Lincoln Way and 244 on Governor Road.

While the fines for violations vary based on how far the driver went over the speed limit, the payment to Sensys Gatso is a flat $35 for all tickets. Fines are assessed as follows: $100 for 11-20 mph over, $150 for 21-25 mph over, $250 for 26-30 mph over and $400 for 30 or more mph over the limit.

At several recent meetings, the city council has discussed potential uses for the ATE revenues based on a $500,000 annual projection, voting on Oct. 23 to purchase Flock public safety license plate reader cameras and allocate 25 percent annually (not to exceed $125,000 for police department technology, 25 percent (not to exceed $125,000 annually) for the implementation of the Arts and Culture Master Plan and 50 percent (not to exceed $250,000 annually) for community beautification projects and code enforcement.

In addition to the two fixed sites at the aforementioned locations, the MPD plans to utilize a third mobile site camera beginning sometime soon, and Jones said the timeline would likely depend on the weather. The two automated traffic enforcement (ATE) cameras installed in Marshalltown last summer — one on Lincoln Way and another on South 12th Avenue/Governor Road — have issued 7,026 citations in their first six months of operation, according to officials with the Marshalltown Police Department.

MPD Capt. Chris Jones said the total gross revenue from paid and processed tickets so far is $424,225, but over 40 percent of the citations issued last year still haven’t been paid. As of Friday morning, 4,176 of them (about 59.4 percent of the total number) were paid in 2023.

Jones explained that the initial window to pay a ticket is 30 days, and second and third notices are sent out at 60 and 90 days before the driver is considered to be in default. A court summons could then be issued, but no final decision on whether that will be the preferred course of action has been reached, with Jones not wanting to bog down the court system and hoping to come up with a “feasible” plan.

“You’re looking at potentially a 60 to 90 day window of notices, so that would go back to October. We’ll have to figure out what the best option for us is,” Jones said. “There may be 60 to 90 days before it actually defaults, and we haven’t really got a default final number yet because it’s still pending.”

Additionally, Sensys Gatso, the company that provides the cameras, takes a $35 cut from each paid ticket for “the use and maintenance of the monitoring equipment and their office assistance with citation, record, and payment processing.”

Of the two sites, data on the city website indicates that the Lincoln Way camera has issued a substantially higher number of tickets than the one on Governor Road. In its first full month of operation, 1,182 citations were issued from the Lincoln Way camera compared to just 442 on Governor Road, but the numbers have generally trended downward since then. In December, just 571 citations were issued on Lincoln Way and 244 on Governor Road.

While the fines for violations vary based on how far the driver went over the speed limit, the payment to Sensys Gatso is a flat $35 for all tickets. Fines are assessed as follows: $100 for 11-20 mph over, $150 for 21-25 mph over, $250 for 26-30 mph over and $400 for 30 or more mph over the limit.

At several recent meetings, the city council has discussed potential uses for the ATE revenues based on a $500,000 annual projection, voting on Oct. 23 to purchase Flock public safety license plate reader cameras and allocate 25 percent annually (not to exceed $125,000 for police department technology, 25 percent (not to exceed $125,000 annually) for the implementation of the Arts and Culture Master Plan and 50 percent (not to exceed $250,000 annually) for community beautification projects and code enforcement.

In addition to the two fixed sites at the aforementioned locations, the MPD plans to utilize a third mobile site camera beginning sometime soon, and Jones said the timeline would likely depend on the weather.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.