Q: It has been decades since I got a speeding ticket, but I believe you are not including the fees/charges added on top of the fine [in the column about speed cameras]. I assume that those fees are going to be added to a camera ticket, just like they are for officer-issued tickets.
Rich Davis, San Jose
A: It remains to be seen. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to reduce by half a penalty that California courts can tack onto traffic and minor citations. Some lawmakers want it gone.
What some call California’s “hidden” court fees can add hundreds of dollars to traffic tickets and minor violations, sometimes increasing their cost nearly tenfold.
Known as a civil assessment, the fee is imposed on hundreds of thousands of Californians as a penalty for failing to pay a ticket by a deadline or failing to appear in court on a charge.
According to a report by CalWorks, a maximum of $300 can be added to tickets that originally cost as little as $35.
Money collected from the extra charges bolsters court coffers, leading advocates to accuse the state of paying for its judicial system by charging those who can least afford it.
The fees generate nearly $100 million annually, and the courts retain more than half.
Newsom in his January budget proposed halving the fees, to a maximum of $150, and spending $50 million to backfill court budgets.
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