Speeders in Monona may have to ease up on the gas or be prepared to pay the price.

Monona Mayor Robb Kahl is proposing to add a police officer as part of the city's 2009 budget, with the estimated $77,000 in salary and benefits paid mostly through the increased number of speeding tickets that person would write.

Kahl said he doesn't want Monona to become the next Rosendale — the Fond du Lac County crossroads with a speed trap so infamous it's featured on T-shirts — but "we do want people, especially in the vicinity of parks and schools, to obey the speed limit."

The new officer would focus on slowing speeders on residential streets, a common complaint among residents and a situation that's expected to get worse as reconstruction starts on Monona Drive late next summer. The officer also would patrol busy Monona Drive, Broadway and the Beltline.

"The intent here is to better monitor and enforce the existing speed limit," Kahl said.

But to come close to covering the extra salary, the officer will have to issue about 1,600 tickets at a minimum fine of $48 a piece — or almost one an hour.

"That's a lot of tickets," said Monona Police Chief Walter Ostrenga. "I don't know if that's possible."

From January through the end of October, Monona's 20 police officers issued 416 speeding tickets, many on the Beltline, Monona Drive or Broadway.

Kahl said he doesn't expect the salary and fines to be a complete wash. Rather, he said, he expects the officer would issue three or four tickets a day.

The rest of the money for the officer's salary — and additional hours for the municipal clerk to handle the increased citations — would come from keeping the budget increases for some departments to 1 percent or less, he said.

The Monona City Council will discuss the budget Monday, and the final budget is expected to be approved in early December.

Both Ostrenga and Kahl said complaints from residents about speeding is common.

"When we have done speed surveys on residential streets we've found on average that approximately 15 percent of the vehicles recorded are traveling 5 to 6 mph over the limit," Ostrenga said.

The police department doesn't have adequate staff to devote someone to speed enforcement, Kahl said.

"We often find ourselves wanting to have another officer out there," he said, such as when there's an accident on the Beltline.

Ostrenga said he wouldn't mind another officer but would rather see the city put in more speed bumps. But Kahl said there's a concern about the damage those can do to fire department equipment.

Another option to increase safety would be building sidewalks along streets near schools and parks. But funding a new police officer is much cheaper, Kahl said.

"This is a way of, I think, improving the quality of life here in Monona ... at a minimal incremental cost to do so," Kahl said.

IF YOU GO

What: The Monona City Council will discuss the proposed 2009 budget, which includes a new police officer focusing on traffic enforcement.

WHEN: Monday, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Monona Public Library, 1000 Nichols Road.