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ORDINANCE: O-2004-37
SUBJECT: Amending Title 3 of the Lakewood Municipal Code pertaining to Revenue and Finance by the amendment of Section 3.11.020, Sale of Unclaimed Vehicles - Proceeds.
ADDRESS: Not applicable.
RECOMMENDATIONS: City Council approve the proposed ordinance.
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
The City of Lakewood contracts annually with a private metropolitan tow truck operator to tow and store the vehicles, which are impounded by the police department and code enforcement officers. Frequently, the owners of such vehicles do not retrieve the towed vehicles and they become abandoned. When a vehicle has been stored at the official police garage for a period of thirty days, after notice to the owner and lien holder and no claim of ownership has been made, the abandoned vehicle becomes the property of the city. Often the tow charges and the storage charges that are accrued by the vehicle exceed the appraised value of the vehicle. Currently, any vehicle that is appraised at a value of one thousand dollars or more must be auctioned by the city. This dollar amount was established in 1991 by ordinance. It was the intent of this provision to provide for recovery of the city's expenses. However, some thirteen years later, we are not recovering expenses and are frequently losing money.
Towing charges, storage fee, and administrative costs are seldom recouped when
vehicles appraised at one thousand dollars are sold by auction. In fact, the
city's towing and storage costs alone typically amount to around eight hundred
dollars with no guarantee of the vehicle selling at anywhere near the appraised
value. After consulting with the Purchasing Division of the Department of Finance,
it is the police department's recommendation that the ordinance provision be
amended to only require the auctioning of vehicles valued at two thousand dollars
or more. This higher minimum appraisal value realistically reflects a dollar
value for vehicles suitable for public auction in 2004 dollars. Typically, vehicles
appraised at less than two thousand dollars are rated as "junk" and
they can be crushed rather than auctioned. When a vehicle is determined to be
of little value, salvage title to the vehicle is given to the official police
garage and the city is not charged the accrued towing and storage charges. These
salvaged vehicles are recycled at no cost to the city. The proposed ordinance
change will save the city both the administrative time and processing costs
involved in auctioning vehicles of little value as well as the money spent reimbursing
the official police garage for the accrued towing and storage costs. Additionally,
disposing of vehicles valued at under two thousand dollars will expedite releases
of vehicles and reduce the overall inventory of vehicles which result in the
overcrowding of the impound lot facility
DATE OF FIRST READING: July 26, 2004
DATE OF SECOND READING: August 9, 2004
ORIGINATED BY: Police Department
STAFF PERSON RESPONSIBLE: Janet Young. Deputy City Attorney, 303-987-7108
Bob Huestis, Property Services Supervisor, 303-987-7322
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED: Ordinance O-2004-37
SUBMITTED BY:
Ronald R. Burns, Chief of Police
REVIEWED BY:
Joni Inman, Director Mayor and City Manager's Office
Michael J. Rock, City Manager
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