PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano is defending her plans forstatewide photo radar, saying it has nothing to do with the money it would raise — sort of.

 The governor on Wednesday said she ordered the Department of Public Safety to contract for fixed and mobile speed enforcement cameras a year ago, before the current budget crunch. She said that was based on findings from a Scottsdale experiment which showed it promoted safer roads.

 Napolitano said it is just a happy coincidence that the citations the system will produce this year will generate an estimated $90 million in net revenues to help erase a $1.7 billion or larger budget deficit anticipated next year.

 She said the revenues from the tickets would have been part of her budget proposal “would have been in the budget if we were in a surplus.’’

 But it was not until last month — a year after ordering statewide deployment of photo radar — Napolitano said she wants to change the formula of who gets the money.

 Under current law, the fines go to the cities or counties where the citation is issued. The governor, however, wants the statutes changed so penalties from photo radar citations issued on state roads all go to the state general fund.

 Pressed on the issue, Napolitano said it makes sense to generate funds from photo radar. “Look: You can either have a budget that protects speeders or you can have a budget that protects education, that allows us to keep adding DPS (Department of Public Safety) officers and CPS (Child Protective Services) case managers,’’ the governor said. “These are all choices that have to be made.’’

 Nor did she think it’s unfair to balance the budget on the backs of lead-footed motorists. “Nobody likes getting a ticket,’’ the governor said. “But that’s the price you pay when you speed,’’ she explained. “If you don’t want to pay, don’t speed.’’

 The governor’s defense comes a day after the Senate Transportation Committee voted to ban the use of photo radar on state roads. And anticipating a veto, the same panel also agreed to put an identical measure before voters in November.

 Napolitano suggested she believes voters would reject the measure — if they realize the full implications. “I think Arizona voters, when you get past the kind of initial hrrrr (shuddering sound) ... they understand that there are choices here, there are choices that make sense,’’ she said.

 She said photo radar will mean that “more speeders probably get caught’’ and more revenues to the state in fines. “But we want to reduce the overall level of speed on the highway,’’ Napolitano said. “And we need money in the budget to help provide for the Department of Public Safety, for Child Protective Services and for other things that quite frankly we cannot pay for in our budget with the current deficit,’’ the governor said. “So those are the choices that have to be made.’’

 Napolitano did confess that she got at least one speeding ticket in her life. But she insisted she doesn’t remember how fast she was going at the time.