YOUNGSTOWN — The city doesn’t have a choice but to get rid of its speed cameras by the end of the month, said Law Director Jeff Limbian.

“It will be gone, but you can expect a greater presence of police on highways,” Limbian said. “The state has backed us into a corner.”

A final decision will be made shortly, but Limbian said it’s a foregone conclusion that the city will have to stop using the cameras.

A provision in the state’s transportation budget, effective in July, calls for communities using speed and red-light cameras to issue civil citations to motorists to have their Local Government Fund money reduced by the amount they collect in camera revenue.

Youngstown is on pace to bring in about $2 million this year from speed-camera citations.

The city was expected to receive about $1.7 million in LGF money in 2020.

Because of the speed-camera money, the city won’t receive any LGF money in 2020, according to an analysis from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

LGF funds are all-purpose while the speed-camera money is restricted by city law for police purposes — though that can be changed by city council.

Kyle Miasek, the interim finance director, recently said there’s a two-month lag between people getting their citations and paying the fees after being caught by the cameras, so a decision is needed by the end of this month. Any money collected in 2020 would be a reduction in 2021 LGF money, he said.

“I take Kyle Miasek at his word that it doesn’t leave us with a choice,” Limbian said. “But I don’t like the manipulative process by the state.”

The cameras are used primarily on Interstate 680 between South Avenue and Meridian Road, where the speed limit is 50 mph.

Once the cameras are gone, Limbian said motorists should expect more police on highways using radar to catch speeders and ticketing them the “old-fashioned way.” Motorists caught speeding using that method will get points on their driving record while the speed cameras were civil citations that didn’t put points on a driver’s record.

“They can’t get as many (speeders), but they can be pretty effective,” Limbian said. “They’ll be stopping more than one vehicle.”

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said the city is looking at all of its options.

“We may not have (speed cameras), but we have radar and a traffic division,” he said. “We’re going to make sure there is safety on the roads. It’s a stumbling block. We won’t be able to get as many speeders with (traditional) radar, but we’ll get as many as we can. We’ll be out. We will have a presence.”

The city started using the hand-held cameras Aug. 18, 2015. The city signed a contract with Optotraffic, a Lanham, Md., company, to provide the cameras, process and mail the citations. The city gets 65 percent of the money while Optotraffic gets the rest.

The cost of citations range from $100 for driving up to 12 mph over the speed limit to $150 for going at least 20 mph over the limit.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com