Scenic New Rome, Ohio
Tim Blair (who has stylish new digs) points out a beauty by Steve Spence in Car and Driver - Town Without Pity:

In the past decade, the village of New Rome, Ohio, suffered a severe case of urban flight—46 percent of its residents packed up and moved away, according to the latest U.S. Census numbers. Folks familiar with New Rome and not fond of it may sanitize their explanations for this exodus, but in simple English it usually comes down to this: New Rome is a chickenshit town, a little police state.
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But the village does have one big asset - 1000 feet of Broad Street. The revenue from traffic citations on that little stretch of four-lane roadway has gone from $101,223 in 1990 to $377,651 in 2001, enough to pay for its notorious police department, a handful of municipal workers, and the village council.

A common enough scam, but it gets better:

For one, who's going to believe that in this day and age a family clan can still run a town? The makeup of the village council begins with Nancy Chapman, the wife of Charles Chapman, who had been mayor during the 1990s and ran the traffic court. The Chapmans' son and daughter, Charles Jr. and Alisa Gibbs, have been on the council. Councilwoman Patricia McCormick is Nancy Chapman's sister, and councilman David Tisler, who works for a towing service on Broad Street, is McCormick's live-in boyfriend. Councilman Richard Plants is Nancy Chapman's nephew. Christopher and Valerie Gamble have been on the council; Valerie is the daughter of Connie Tucker. Who is Connie Tucker? She's the clerk/treasurer of New Rome.

Second, none of these council members was ever elected - they were all appointed, by one another. The last time a council member was elected by voters was in 1979, and even that involved a pair of write-in candidates. The clan's position is that they don't bother to run for election because no one else in the village wants the job. With just nine or 10 homes, they say there are few volunteers for council. They say the police are simply enforcing the laws and that as a result, New Rome is a very safe place to live. (Possibly a little less so after 11 p.m., when the police quit for the night.) Council members are paid $50 for the monthly meeting and qualify for retirement and health insurance after long service.

Yeah, but there are fringes apparently - a lot of the ticket money has disappeared. Much more by following the link.