Testimony

HOUSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE | OPPONENT TESTIMONY FOR HOUSE BILL 843

Keary McCarthy, Executive Director
June 8, 2026

Chair King, Vice Chair Kishman, Ranking Member Sims, and members of the House Local Government Committee, the Ohio Mayors Alliance respectfully submits this written testimony in opposition to House Bill 843.

The Ohio Mayors Alliance is a bipartisan coalition representing the mayors of Ohio’s 30 largest cities. We also represent the Village of South Point through the Mayors Partnership for Progress in Southeast Ohio. Our mission is centered on protecting the fiscal health of Ohio’s municipalities, preserving Home Rule and local control, and fostering meaningful collaboration between state and local governments.

The use of automated traffic enforcement cameras by Ohio municipalities has been the subject of extensive debate in the General Assembly for more than a decade. House Bill 843 revisits this issue despite the fact that the Ohio Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed municipal authority in this area. The General Assembly should respect this settled constitutional precedent rather than attempting to circumvent it once again.

Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution grants municipalities authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce local police, sanitary, and similar regulations that do not conflict with general laws. Ohio’s 30 largest cities alone spend approximately $2.1 billion annually on police, fire, and emergency medical services. Mayors and city councils are directly accountable to their residents for maintaining safe streets and intersections through regular elections. Automated traffic enforcement is one of many tools local governments may choose to employ based on the unique safety needs of their communities.

The decision whether to utilize traffic enforcement cameras is fundamentally a local one. House Bill 843 would replace local decision-making with a statewide mandate requiring voter approval before a municipality could implement or continue a traffic camera program. Requiring a referendum for specific tools does not enhance public safety; instead, it forces taxpayers to fund a cumbersome and expensive political process. Subjecting individual public safety tools to separate ballot measures sets a dangerous precedent for the management of municipal infrastructure and safety programs.

At a minimum, the committee should amend House Bill 843 to eliminate the provision in current law that withholds Local Government Fund distributions from municipalities that utilize traffic enforcement cameras. The Local Government Fund exists to support essential local services and should not be used as a mechanism to penalize municipalities. Further, the committee should also remove the requirement in HB 843 for municipalities to provide an advance deposit for court costs, as this provision unfairly shifts the financial burden of litigation, requiring municipalities to pay all applicable court costs upfront at the time a ticket is filed. These are costs paid by taxpayers that the municipality can never recover, even when it prevails in court.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written opponent testimony on behalf of the Ohio Mayors Alliance regarding HB 843.