JEFFERSON CITY — Senator Scott Sifton, D-Affton, prefiled legislation on Monday (12-1) that aims to curb revenue collections from traffic violations by municipalities.

“The Legislature has already removed the profit motive for municipalities by requiring that all traffic fine revenue in excess of 30 percent of the city’s revenue be remitted to the state,” Sen. Sifton explained. “So while we have already removed the carrot, my bill adds a stick: cities collecting more than half of their revenue from traffic fines will have to forfeit their share of the St. Louis County sales tax pool.”

Based on municipal revenue information available, Sen. Sifton’s bill would impact three cities in St. Louis County: Bella Villa, which is in Sen. Sifton’s district; Calverton Park; and Vinita Terrace. A fourth city, Pine Lawn, is perilously close to the 50 percent threshold.

“I have been getting complaints from constituents about Bella Villa for quite some time,” Sen. Sifton said. “I don’t want to limit local jurisdictions’ ability to assess fines in order to promote traffic safety, but my constituents are adamant that there has to be an upper limit on what municipalities can reasonably collect.”