Suffolk County must shell out up to nearly $60 million to settle a lawsuit over the $30 “administration fee’’ it slapped on its now-defunct red-light-camera tickets, according to a new settlement.
The long-awaited Long Island pact, reached this week, will reimburse drivers up to $57.5 million — or as much as $36 per ticket they received between 2013 and 2023 — for the illegal fees that the administration of former County Executive Steve Bellone tacked on to each ticket.
“We are pleased to have reached a resolution that is fair to the members of the class while also protecting the interests of Suffolk County taxpayers,” said Christopher Clayton, the lawyer for the plaintiffs in the class-action suit.
“This litigation began during the prior administration and has been both lengthy and complex — this settlement brings this matter to a responsible conclusion and allows the County to move forward,” he said.
For the 10-year period between 2013 and 2023, Suffolk County collected a $50 fine from drivers who ran a red light — but then tacked on another $30 with the “administrative fee,” which was found to be illegal by a state appellate court in 2024.
The class-action lawsuit, first filed in 2016, sought to recover the millions of dollars that Suffolk and Nassau counties both pocketed through the added surcharge.
Under the newly approved settlement, Suffolk County agreed to repay drivers up to $36 for each ticket — $30 for the administrative fee and $6 in interest — but that amount could be less depending on how many drivers apply for reimbursements.
The pot stays at $57.5 million regardless, and it’s unclear how many people will seek reimbursements.
Neighboring Nassau County, which tacked on an exorbitant $100 in illegal fees per ticket until 2024, is still fighting its own case in court in an effort to avoid having to pay back $400 million.
As part of the newly reached agreement, Suffolk will pay up to $45 million in total to ticketed drivers on top of the program’s administrative costs and another $12.5 million in lawyer fees.
Eligible Suffolk drivers will soon receive a mailer noting they were victimized by the county’s cash grab and that they can cash in by applying for a refund through the directions on the flyer.
Current County Executive Ed Romaine ended Suffolk’s red-light-camera program at the end of his first year in office in December 2024, not long after the appellate ruling found the added fees to be illegal.
As for Nassau’s case, in October, county Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademake controversially ruled that Nassau doesn’t have to pay back drivers, bizarrely saying those who were ticketed voluntarily paid the fines — even though they were threatened with getting their licenses suspended if they didn’t.
That ruling is now being challenged.
But while Nassau’s red-light cameras are still running, the county now only charges just the $50 base after dropping a $45 “public safety fee” and $55 “driver responsibility fee” from tickets after losing the appeals court case along with Suffolk.
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