HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Wondering where your money goes when you pay those pesky speeding ticket fines? Well, some of it goes to fund local public libraries.
Bradley Slagh, Treasurer for Ottawa County, just announced that nine local libraries will receive funds totaling over $800 thousand dollars from violations of the state penal laws.
The Michigan State Constitution Of 1963 requires that all penalties collected for violations of the state penal laws be divided into court costs, statutory fees and penal fees. The penal fees are then placed in a fund to be distributed to local libraries and a county law library. The amount of money the library gets from the fund is based on the size of the population that utilizes that library.
Herrick District Library in Holland will get $259,266 of the fund and Georgetown Twp. Library will receive $147,229. Pamela Myers, Director of the Georgetown Twp. Library, says penal finds are an important source of funding for the Library. “The Library utilizes revenue from penal fines to support programs, services, and collections (e.g., books, DVDs, music CDs, eBooks, audiobooks, etc.),” Myers said in a press release from Ottawa County. “In short, funding from penal fines assists the Township in providing invaluable access and service to Georgetown Township residents through its public library.”
Slagh also said that the amount the County receives from penal fees does not vary by very much from year to year, which could mean that cops write about the same number of tickets every year.
