MILWAUKEE — Despite a bill being passed last month, money collected from increased reckless driving fines may not be used for safer driving, according to state legislators.
From 2021 to 2022, the State of Wisconsin collected $4.71 million from OWI offenses through a Driver Improvement Surcharge, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Council. This money is the result of a $435 surcharge added to every OWI citation.
Information provided by the Wisconsin Legislative Council shows of the $4.71 million, the Department of Transportation received 41.5 percent of the funds for chemical tests, breath screening instruments and the safe-ride grant; a grant designed to provide free rides home to those under the influence. The University of Wisconsin received the next most money with 34.4 percent going to the State Laboratory of Hygiene. The Department of Health Services and Department of Public Instruction received 22.3 percent of the funding for "services for drivers," 19.4 percent and 3 percent respectively.
Last month, Gov. Tony Evers signed Act 9 into law, which doubled fines for reckless drivers and established the same surcharge process for these offenses. However, how this money is used has Sen. Lena Taylor concerned.
"It doesn't make sense," Taylor said. "Not for me."
Taylor says any money collected through the reckless driving surcharge will be dispersed in the same fashion as the OWI surcharge funds, based on state statutes. Rep. Bob Donovan also confirmed this is the case, saying the surcharges collected through reckless driving will be dispersed in the same manner as OWI-related surcharges.
The Department of Justice also receives 1.8 percent of the current funds for crime victim compensation services.
Taylor brought this information to TMJ4's Project: Drive Safer Town Hall at Riverside University High School Thursday night. She hopes to introduce a new bill or amendment changing how the funds from the so-called Driver Improvement Surcharge Funds are truly used for improving driving on the streets.
"The surcharge should be used for driver's education," Taylor said. "Maybe even for street design or maybe even for traffic enforcement. The point being, if we have enough to do driver's education and there is extra, let's do the others or maybe a certain percentage to each."
It's something Donovan supports discussing. In a statement, Donovan's Office says, "Rep. Donovan is not opposed to potential change in how these surcharges are allocated. For example, Rep. Donovan believes a reckless driving surcharge that diverts funds to drivers education could have merit."
Consider reckless driving citations issued in the City of Milwaukee last year. According to the Municipal Court website, 612 reckless driving citations were issued. With the reckless driving surcharge, that would total $266,200 from Milwaukee alone.
"These are dollars that should not be left on the table," Taylor said.
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