Van-cam operators
want $3 million

Sen. Cal Kawamoto says
the bill is lower than he expected
and seems reasonable

---

Associated Press

The companies that operated the traffic camera enforcement program are demanding more than $3 million from the state, according to a report by KITV.

Affiliated Computer Services and Poltech International are seeking $3,119,899, which includes a 10 percent profit.

The controversial program, which lasted about four months, used vans equipped with cameras to document speeders. Citations then were mailed to registered owners of the vehicles involved.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano ordered a shutdown of the program, which faced harsh criticism and legal challenges and ended in April.

ACS Vice President Maurice Hannigan said every effort was made to trim the bill, and the 10-percent profit is "well below" the firm's normal profit margin rate, according to the KITV report.

"We mitigated every place we could," Hannigan said. "We subleased the building, got rid of the vehicles, brought furniture over here and used it," he said.

The 10-percent markup is "basically a return on the investment in personnel time and resources we put into this project," he said.

Republican Sen. Bob Hogue, who led the effort to repeal the program, said the bill is too high.

"We're not the owner of this; we're not going to pay the big bill," Hogue said. "It doesn't make sense that we should."

But Democratic Sen. Cal Kawamoto, chairman of the Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations Committee, said the bill is lower than he expected and seems reasonable.