The Lori Soares Hacking murder case keeps coming back to hit Salt Lake City in the wallet.

The investigation, which included a painstaking search of the county landfill, contributed to a $420,000 projected revenue shortfall in the city's fines and forfeiture budget for the 2004-05 fiscal year.

The City Council has learned that many of the extra officers used to investigate the case and search for Lori Hacking's body were taken off their normal traffic-enforcement responsibilities. That means there were fewer cops on the street catching speeders. As a result, the Salt Lake City Police Department wrote 8 percent fewer tickets in July through October 2004 compared to July through October 2003.

The decrease in citations contributed to a projected decline in the city's fines and forfeiture budget, which was originally budgeted to be $9.42 million but is now expected to reach $9 million.

"They had to pull some of their staff off (traffic enforcement) primarily to deal with the Lori Hacking case," city controller Gordon Hoskins told the City Council.

That news didn't sit well with some council members, who often hear their constituents complain about neighborhood speeders.

"We need to have some enforcement out there," Councilwoman Nancy Saxton said.

Hoskins said the police department has returned the officers to their regular traffic duties.

Besides the revenue decrease, the Salt Lake City Police Department spent $47,000 in overtime pay for the case, $41,000 to reimburse the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Facility for expenses and another $9,000 to pay for cadaver dogs and their handlers to come from Duchesne County to search the landfill, police department accountant Jerry Burton said.

Lori Hacking's remains were located at the landfill in October. She was reported missing July 19 by her husband, Mark Hacking, who told police she had failed to return from a morning jog. Mark Hacking was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder and three counts of obstruction of justice in connection with his wife's death. Mark Hacking entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, although he allegedly confessed to his brothers that he shot his wife in the head as she slept and then deposited her body in a Dumpster.

The decrease in ticket revenue isn't the only thing hurting Salt Lake City's fines and forfeiture budget, Hoskins said. The Legislature's decision in 2003 to recodify moving traffic violations as crimes rather than civil offenses hasn't helped, Hoskins said.

Previously, most moving traffic violations, outside of DUI and reckless driving, were considered civil offenses. This allowed the city to charge late fees for nonpayment and gain civil judgments against nonpayers. Now, however, the city can only threaten to imprison nonpayers, which is an idle threat since jails are too crowded to take such minor criminals, Hoskins said. The result is that fewer people are paying.