More than 1.1 million Suffolk County motorists who paid an administrative fee on a red-light-camera ticket may be eligible for a refund of up to $36 per ticket under a proposed class-action settlement. The agreement is not final: a court fairness hearing and final approval are still pending, according to Newsday.
What eligible drivers need to know
The proposed payment combines a $30 refund for the administrative fee with $6 in interest, according to News12 Bronx. The class generally covers people who paid the fee on Suffolk red-light-camera tickets issued after April 1, 2013. Kroll Settlement Administration used county ticketing records to identify potential class members and mailed notices containing unique identification numbers; the mailing was expected to reach about 90% of affected motorists, Newsday reported.
The settlement sets aside up to $45 million for driver payments and $12.5 million for attorneys’ fees and administrative costs, for a total county exposure capped at $57.5 million, according to the Riverhead News-Review. Because the driver-payment fund is capped, $36 is a maximum rather than a guaranteed amount: if valid claims exceed the available fund, individual payments could be reduced.
Potential claimants have until December 8 to submit a claim, while the deadline to opt out of the settlement is November 9. The fairness hearing is scheduled for December 8, when the court is expected to consider whether to grant final approval. Until that happens, no settlement payments are assured. The reported payment options include Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, a check or a prepaid debit card, according to News12 Bronx.
Why the fee is being refunded
The dispute concerns a surcharge Suffolk added to red-light-camera penalties. In McGrath v. Suffolk County, the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, ruled that the county could not impose total liability above $50 for a red-light-camera violation, or $75 when a statutorily authorized late fee applied. The court described liability beyond those limits as unlawful under New York law, according to the appellate decision.
Suffolk stopped charging the $30 administrative fee in 2023. Records discussed in the litigation indicate that the county collected roughly $90 million to $91 million from the fee between 2013 and 2023, according to Newsday. The proposed settlement would therefore return less than the full amount collected through the capped driver-payment fund, although the final per-person amount will depend on the number of valid claims.
The refund fight is separate from the safety debate
Suffolk shut down its broader red-light-camera program in December 2024, according to Newsday. County data cited in coverage of the shutdown showed an 11.3% decline in injury-causing crashes at camera locations but an 8.6% increase in overall collisions, including more rear-end crashes associated with sudden braking, CBS New York reported.
Those figures do not establish a countywide verdict on red-light cameras. Suffolk’s 2023 program report says its analysis compares crash type and severity at individual camera intersections with the three years before each camera was installed. That location-specific method means the results should not automatically be treated as a measure of every collision across the county, according to the county’s annual report.
New York City provides a separate comparison, not a direct test of Suffolk’s program. The New York City Department of Transportation says that since the city launched its red-light-camera program in 1994, average daily violations at camera-equipped intersections have fallen 73% and deadly T-bone crashes have fallen 65% compared with the period before the program began. The agency also reported that all 29 people killed in New York City red-light-running crashes in 2023 died at intersections without red-light cameras. Those city statistics may inform the broader safety discussion, but they do not decide whether Suffolk’s surcharge was lawful or how much each claimant will receive, according to NYC DOT and its 2024 program announcement.
How the county plans to pay
Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine’s office has said the county may use some cash on hand but expects to finance much of its settlement obligation through municipal bonds, according to Newsday. That financing plan remains distinct from the court’s approval decision and could spread the cost of the past fee collections over future county budgets.
