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  Poolesville officials are stepping up their efforts to receive earnings from county-operated speed cameras in town.

Poolesville is the only municipality in the county with speed cameras that does not have its own police department to administer its program. Ticket revenue is collected by the county to spend on pedestrian safety improvements and initiatives, but town officials say money earned in Poolesville should be spent locally. 

County Council President Philip M. Andrews introduced a bill in November that would allocate a percentage of the program's total revenue to municipalities with county-operated cameras, but it is unclear when the Council will revisit the issue. Poolesville's commissioners sent a letter to the Council this summer requesting all past and future net revenues from speed cameras installed on Fisher Avenue, the town's main street, in February 2008.

 "All that money goes to the county and right now everything they've talked about spending that money on is in Wheaton, Silver Spring or someplace else. There hasn't been whisper of a dime about any of it going this way," said Commission President Eddie Kuhlman, who said he spoke last month to legislators willing to address the issue at the state level if the county does not take action. "…I'm hoping very much that they do enact this legislation that's been sitting in limbo for many months so we can start getting some of the revenue we need for pedestrian safety improvements here."

The county operates 60 fixed speed cameras at about 40 locations and six mobile speed cameras, according to Lt. Paul Starks, a county police spokesman. Speed cameras are planned to be installed in three municipalities that do not have police departments and are currently awaiting permits, Starks said — Barnesville, Kensington and Chevy Chase View.

Speed camera funds have not been spent in Poolesville, according to Esther Bowring, a county spokeswoman. Money from the fines was allocated for the first time in the county's budget for fiscal 2010, which began in July, she said.

"It's not that pedestrian safety improvements aren't being funded in Poolesville, it's just not coming from speed cameras," she said, adding that at least $30 million in improvements have been identified throughout the county. The town pays for road repairs and infrastructure improvements such as sidewalks, though it receives about $221,000 a year from the county for road improvements based on a formula, Town Manager Wade Yost said.

The cameras can be considered a safety improvement themselves by lowering vehicle speeds, Bowring said.

"If there's an area where people are concerned about speeding and there are no engineering problems [with the road], the cameras there slowing down cars is helping the problem," she said.

The Council is not scheduled to revisit the bill in the next several months and has a slate of time-sensitive issues, such as master plans for White Flint and Gaithersburg West, that it must address when members return from recess in two weeks, Andrews said. It is unlikely that Poolesville will receive past revenue because it has been spent, he said.

"If you're going to collect this revenue in our community that's fine, but don't take all of the revenue and spend it someplace else," said Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown, who said he supports the town getting speed camera money. "…It's equitable, especially since the purpose [of the cameras] was to raise money for pedestrian safety."