$50 Million Revenue Estimate A Mystery As Those Involved Contradict Each Other, Point Fingers

There is a mystery that still hangs over Governor Henry's plan to raise $50 million in new revenue from a statewide system of highway traffic "spy" cameras to catch insurance scofflaws and the mystery is this: Why does no one seem to know for certain where that income estimate came from?

It's an important question because if the estimate is not accurate, there's a hole in the revenue side of the budget that will have to be filled some other way. In addition, the perception appears to be growing that despite years of planning, the system was placed for bids with far too many unanswered questions.

There also appears to be information about the system itself that contradicts other information. For example, the governor's budget suggests 220 of the cameras. Yet a DPS document outlining specifications mentions only "12 to 20" cameras. Questions from vendors, and DPS responses, indicate confusion in other areas of the plan as well ranging from how the system will be administered to where fines would be paid.

The McCarville Report Online has asked everyone in a position to know where the estimate came from after noticing that the Department of Public Safety, charged with putting information together for bidders and in overall charge of the plan, responded "Unknown" to questions from several bidders about the source of the estimate, and how it was derived.

The Governor's Office Says The Treasurer Helped Put The Estimate Together; The Treasurer's Office Says The Governor, Senate President Pro Tem and House Speaker Put It Together; The House Speaker Says It Came From The Governor; An Expert Says The Estimate Is 'Probably Worthless'

TMRO first asked Governor Henry's spokesman, Paul Sund, where the estimate came from. He replied, "I think OSF budget division and Scott's (Meacham) staff put that together after looking at what some other states were doing."

But Treasurer Scott Meacham, via Deputy Treasurer Tim Allen, said, "the revenue estimate was based on responses to a DPS RFP (Request For Proposal) and was reduced (from an original estimate of $95 million) by agreement between the Governor, Pro Tem and Speaker...."

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, on vacation in Arkansas, apparently could not be reached by his staff.

House Speaker Chris Benge, spokeswoman Jennifer Monies said, "just indicated that number came from the governor. Other than that, he is unaware of the source."

Former Rep. Wayne Pettigrew, a national officer of InsureNet, one firm interested in the state contract that also retains Barry Switzer as a consultant, followed closely the development of information about the new system.

He tells TMRO, "As far as I know, it is 6 months anticipated revenue from a vehicle insurance verification system that has a national database. I believe it assumes a 24% uninsured rate on 70% of the vehicles (from Oklahoma) and a 70% collection rate on the fines levied. I do not know what the anticipated uninsured rate is for the out-of-state vehicles. I think the RFP from DCS (Department of Central Services) went to a single state type system for the database (not the InsureNet one) and so this number ($50 million) is probably worthless now."

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