According to City Finance Commissioner Janet Penksa, quoted in yesterday’s Buffalo News, the city’s proposed traffic light cameras will generate $2.75 million annually based on $50 fines. Mayor Byron Brown has been pushing the plan.

That would equal 55,000 tickets yearly. Or, 150 tickets per day, 365 days a year. This “pilot project” will involve 50 surveillance cameras at traffic lights around the city for the next five years.

The home-rule message was approved by the Common Council in a 5-3 vote on Tuesday. Mickey Kearns, David Rivera, and Richard Fontana voted against it.

According to a press release from Assemblymember Sam Hoyt’s office, issued yesterday, the bill will be approved in Albany next week. Antoine Thompson is the sponsor of the measure in the NYS Senate.

The News reports that Common Council members “would have one last chance to approve or reject the initiative,” after it is passed in Albany next week.

Proponents say it is not a “money grab.”

Put another way, the plan will mean an average of a little more than one $50 red light ticket issued every ten minutes, every hour, seven days a week, for the next 1,825 days in the city of Buffalo—totaling $13.75 million dollars in five years.

Penksa said the fines might increase to $75 if they’re paid late.