The Determinants of Traffic Citation Revenues on Florida's Clerks of Court and Comptrollers

• Main Author: Hamilton, Corey A.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: ScholarWorks 2017
• Subjects: budget; clerk of court; government; resource dependence; revenues; traffic citation; Finance and Financial Management; Public Administration; Public Policy
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3164; https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4267&context=dissertations

In the wake of budgetary restraints, many local government organizations are examining existing sources of revenue to exhaust available streams without increasing constituents' financial burden. Some of these revenue streams include nontraditional sources, such as traffic citations, yet little research has explored the implications of revenue generated from fines from traffic citations. Using the theory of resource dependence as the foundation, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the estimated population of the county, the unemployment rate of the county, and the personal income per capita against the number of traffic citations issued and the Florida Clerk of Court and Comptroller's (FCCC) revenues and budget attributable to traffic citations for 39 of Florida's counties for the years 2005-¬ - 2014. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses. The results of this study indicate a statistically significant (p < .001) relationship between population and personal income with increases and decreases, respectively, in the issuance of traffic citations and FCCC revenues attributable to traffic citations. Likewise, there was a statistically significant (p < .001) relationship between population and personal income with increases in the FCCC budget associated with traffic citations. Unemployment rate was not statistically associated with the issuance of traffic citations, and FCCC revenues and budget attributable to traffic citations. The findings of this study may promote positive social change by providing legislative awareness that the FCCCs continue to be dependent on the bulk of their revenues, and significant portion of their budget, from a nontraditional revenue source; the traffic citation.