PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Providence officials plan to tell Rhode Island lawmakers they would prefer if the state’s school-zone speed camera law included a lower fine for all violations rather than a tiered system that penalizes drivers based on the number of violations they receive.

The R.I. House of Representatives has scheduled a vote for Thursday to amend the existing law to require a $50 fine on a person’s first two speeding violations followed by a $95 penalty for all subsequent violations, but city leaders have raised concerns that a tiered system will be difficult to enforce.

“We’re open to decreasing the fine in each case over a complex tiered system,” Emily Crowell, a spokesperson for Mayor Jorge Elorza, told Eyewitness News.

State law allows municipalities to install speed cameras within a quarter-mile of any school, but Providence is the only community to implement a program to date. The city currently fines drivers caught traveling at least 11 miles per hour over the posted speed limit $95 per violation. Tickets can be issued between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The city announced last week it will refund any individual who paid a $95 fine between Jan. 16 and April 15 as part of a settlement to a class-action lawsuit challenging multiple facets of the program. Individuals who haven’t paid their tickets will only be required to pay $75. All people caught speeding after April 15 are still required to pay the $95 fine.

The bill House lawmakers will consider Thursday would lower the fine and require communities to only use the cameras between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the 180-day school year. It was approved by the House Judiciary Committee last week.

The city issued 28,648 tickets between Jan. 16 and April 30, according to records provided by Providence Municipal Court. Conduent State and Local Solutions Inc., the private vendor that oversees both speed cameras and red light cameras in Providence, is $2,978 per month for each camera and $7.50 per violation processed.

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Dan McGowan (dmcgowan@wpri.com) covers politics, education and the city of Providence for WPRI.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter: @danmcgowan

Susan Campbell (scampbell@wpri.com) is the Call 12 for Action and Target 12 consumer investigator for WPRI 12 and Fox Providence. Follow her on Twitter and on Facebook