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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Today in Annapolis. What happened to $6.4 Million of Bus Camera Fine Money? @mcps @mocoboe

Maryland General Assembly on Wednesday February 6th, 2019 at 1 pm


February 6, 2019

Statement in SUPPORT from Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD


The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland is speaking in support of Senate Bill 92 today because time and time again we see public education used as a profit center for companies that do not add any value or dollars to public school classrooms.

Today, we bring to you the example of the no RFP, no bid, no public discussion contract that has been established between Montgomery County Public Schools and a company called Force Multiplier. This deal was executed with out any public procurement process and now the public is left asking, “Where does all the money go?”

The contract allegedly requires Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to pay $18 million for cameras to be installed and operated on MCPS school buses. MCPS is to turn 100% of the fine revenue over to the bus camera company until the $18 million number is reached.

NO revenue is received by either MCPS or the Police Department until the $18 million is paid off. Yet, both organizations must employ staff to handle these transactions.

The original contract for bus cameras was with a company called Force Multiplier, but they shut down when their CEO was arrested by the FBI in a massive bus camera scandal that rocked the city of Dallas, Texas. The company reformed as BusPatrol and the MCPS Superintendent simply inserted the name of BusPatrol for Force Multiplier and continued the contract without a public discussion or Board of Education vote.
Bus camera citations for passing a stopped school bus cost drivers $250 each.

The Montgomery County Police state that 34,436 citations have been issued as of FY18. That number of citations would yield approximately $7,976,550 million in revenue. 

However, when the citation fine revenue is tracked through MCPS for the same time period in FY18 only $1,553,230 is found.

That leaves $6.4 million in fine revenue unaccounted for. Where is the missing fine revenue?

To understand how many people and organizations handle fine revenue, please see the attached [below] flow chart.

This is exactly the type of public school procurement issue that is ripe for investigation by an Inspector General. Please support this legislation.


Part 2:  Councilmember Craig Rice Thinks New Bus Camera Co. is Not Connected to CEO who Plead Guilty to Bribery and Conspiracy

5 comments:

  1. I find it intriguing as to why they could not incorporate this citation into the existing ticket payment system: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/howto/pay.html

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    Replies
    1. Exactly. You will notice that ANY mention of the bus camera citations is MISSING from the Montgomery County Police website. They don't mention these citations at all. Isn't that curious?

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  2. I'm sure the MCPS CFO will have an explanation for this.

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    Replies
    1. Give her a call! We can't wait to hear why this zero revenue, no bid, no competition deal is a good idea for public school children. By the way, there are other companies that do the exact same thing. But MCPS and the Montgomery County Police didn't want to let those companies bid on this contract. Neither did County Councilmember Craig Rice. Interesting that they are all so determined to only allow this one company with a past that involves being shut down by the FBI as the contractor. $18 million is a lot of money.

      Contact Us
      Chief Financial Officer:
      Ms. Nicola (Nicky) Diamond
      Address:
      850 Hungerford Drive, Room 167
      Rockville, MD 20850
      240-740-3160

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  3. Janis, you must know that Nicola answers to NO ONE but Nicola...

    ReplyDelete

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