Lee Memorial waiting on check from traffic fines

A bill from the 2005 legislative session is finally showing some green for Lee Memorial's trauma center, but the amount collected in fines from red light runners is far less than lawmakers' original predictions.

The health system is waiting on a $20,000 check from the statewide pot of about $380,000 collected from October through December 2005, said Keith Arnold, a lobbyist for Lee Memorial.

The next check will be bigger, Arnold told members of the Lee Memorial board of directors this afternoon, because the first quarter of 2006 netted 10 times as much money, or $3 million, he said.

Lawmakers predicted last year that the bill, which raised fines for running red lights on Florida roadways by $65 to about $130, would rake in $19 million for state trauma centers. Under the old distribution guidelines, that means Lee Memorial would have seen about $1 million to offset the estimated $10 million annual loss of its trauma center.

If the first quarter of 2006 is any indication, the state will see about $12 million this year from the increased fines, Arnold said.

He did not say how much Lee Memorial is now likely to receive on an annual basis from the red-light funds.