On October 25, 1999, the City of Newport Beach prepared a report titled,  "FIVE YEAR PROJECTION OF GENERAL FUND REVENUES, EXPENDITURES, AND INCREASES/(DECREASES) TO FUND BALANCE".  Thus this report would cover 2000-2005.

Sounds pretty boring huh?  We would agree, if not for a discovery that we made on page 7 of their report, in the section titled, "Possible Revenue Enhancement Measures".  This section caught our attention, as it included both the words, "REVENUE" and "ENHANCEMENT" in the same sentence!  (sound familiar - "Safety Enhancement"?)

THE EVIDENCE:

In the "Background" paragraph of this section, the report states,

"Harbor Justice Center (formerly Harbor Court) annually processes thousands of Newport Beach citations, arrests, and criminal and civil complaints, as well as those of Costa Mesa, Irvine and surrounding unincorporated areas.  Relative to the nature of issues judges and commissioners adjudicate, many of the Newport Beach criminal citations they see are considered inconsequential and unique to Newport Beach.  As a result, many criminal citations do not receive the level of consideration at adjudication that issuing officers believe is appropriate."

Translation:  Harbor Justice Center "lets people off the hook" because they feel that many of Newport Beach's citations are petty.

It also states,

"The City receives 15% of the fine paid by a Municipal Code violator when cited criminally, versus 100% when cited administratively."

In the "Summary" paragraph of this section, the report states,

"By increasing the use of administrative citations, instead of criminal citations, the City's share of the fines ultimately paid would increase."

It also states,

"Estimated [earning] Potential:  $200k to $250k"

Translation:  Let's convert more of our laws over to municipal code violations so we can make more money!

CALCULATIONS:

By our calculations, if this law passes, the city could generate as much as $260,000 in ADDITIONAL REVENUE!

Ex.:  1300 citations = $130,000 x 3 = $390,000 ($260,000 additional revenue)

SUMMARY:
The objective of this page is to point out the fact that the City of Newport Beach DOES consider municipal code fines to be REVENUE.  In fact, they are actively pursuing ways to capture more of this revenue.  Thus, imposing triple fines on it's residents improves their bottom line.  So don't think for a second that they are not considering this equation!

CONCLUSION:
It's clear to us that in this case, "Safety Enhancement" does equal "Revenue Enhancement".

Click here to see the People's Exhibit D:   " FIVE YEAR PROJECTION OF GENERAL FUND REVENUES, EXPENDITURES, AND INCREASES/(DECREASES) TO FUND BALANCE "