Greenville, N.C. — The City of Greenville is left holding the bill for a red-light camera program that never got off the ground due to court rulings.

The city council voted to end the program and terminate its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems at a meeting on Thursday night.

Under the terms of its contract, the city is responsible for paying Redflex $36,000 for the two cameras the company had installed. The red light cameras were at the intersection of Westhaven Road and Memorial Drive and of Arlington Boulevard and Memorial Drive.

The city and Redflex entered an agreement to build the red-light camera system in March 2004 but delayed the project after a court ruling in December 2004.

That ruling ordered the City of High Point to give 90% of the money fined from red-light violators to the public school system. The state Supreme Court made that ruling final by denying an appeal on June 27.

The order makes running a red-light camera program economically unfeasible, Greenville city officials said.

The city would take a $42 loss on each tickets, with $45 going to the schools and $42 to Redflex, officials said.

The court orders prompted Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, High Point and Raleigh to all shut down their red-light camera systems.