A plan for the police department to run its own on-site impound
lot was put on hold Wednesday night.
A plan for the police department to run its own on-site impound lot was put on hold Wednesday night.
The Morgan Hill City Council requested staff to meet with the four tow-truck operators who would be affected by the move to see if there’s an alternative that would cut down the city’s costs while not gutting their businesses.
City Hall’s council chambers was standing room only as the council deliberated whether or not to approve an impound program that city officials say would save the city $100,000 each year.
Running an impound lot would cost $450,000 a year, but the city will recover all these costs through selling unclaimed vehicles and four proposed fees, including a $57 daily impound fee, a $51 post-storage fee, a $70 or $100 lien fee and a tow fee, according to a city report. Currently, the city says it loses money to the tow companies they contract with and this plan would recover the costs associated with impounding.
In 1995, the California Legislature authorized police to impound vehicles for certain offenses, including driving under the influence or driving with a suspended license or no license at all. Since then, the city has contracted out for these services. But with the ever-increasing blows to the general fund, the city devised this plan to recover most costs.
Taking it upon themselves to store impounded cars would result in a domino effect of layoffs, reduced revenues to businesses citywide and reduced sales tax revenue, tow operators say.
While city officials say the towing and impounding of vehicles is a public safety concern, the tow truck operators said the city’s attempted grab at their revenues is un-American.
“We’ve always been a city that’s been pro-jobs, pro-small business. Now we’re not,” Bill Miner, owner of California Tow Company, told the council.
Gary Ponzini said his family has owned Ponzini’s Community Garage, Inc., since 1951.
“The police department always worked hand-in-hand with us,” Ponzini said.
Cmdr. David Swing, who put the proposal together, said the impound lot would be more efficient and convenient, since vehicle owners would only have to visit one site, the police department, to pick up their vehicle.
But this idea made the tow truck operators bristle.
“To make it convenient for criminals at the expense of four family-owned business – it’s un-American and it’s not Morgan Hill,” Dion Bracco, owner of Bracco’s Towing & Transport, said.
The city purchased property adjacent to the police station on Vineyard Boulevard in September for about $200,000. Along with the impound yard approval, the council was asked to approve a $130,000 paving contract. This motion was put on hold.
Councilwoman Marilyn Librers motioned to table the decision after hearing from 12 towing industry officials.
A roused crowd of tow operators, their family, friends and workers sat in the crowd awaiting the decision. Tow operators decried the effort as a slight to small business, and said it wouldn’t save the city money, either.
“I have looked at your proposal and it just doesn’t work,” Bracco told the council. Bracco said the city isn’t considering all the expenses involved in operating a tow yard, and they could be operating a deficit of $200,000 a year based on their own numbers.
But Councilman Larry Carr was not persuaded, and said it’s the city’s responsibility to both address this public safety concern as well as recovering as much taxpayer cost as possible.
Mayor Steve Tate agreed.
“It’s the charge not of private industry, it’s a public safety responsibility given to cities,” Tate said. Tate noted that in November 2007 the tow truck operators were “very violently opposed to the idea of franchise fees.” The proposal then was to charge tow companies $60 per vehicle to cover administrative costs.
The paving bids expire Oct. 25. If the council doesn’t decide whether or not to move forward before then, they’ll have to rebid the project, according to City Manager Ed Tewes. The council expects to hear the outcome of the impending meeting at their Oct. 21 meeting. If no compromise has been made, they’ll move forward with the impound lot.
Unlike a June staff report, Wednesday night’s proposal said nothing of the tow yard providing the revenue to pay for an additional officer. Instead, the report noted that the city would recover $100,000 more than it does now, which the council could spend however it liked.
If approved, the tow yard would be operated by an existing police records specialist – who would work 30 percent of the time on the impound lot – a half-time police cadet and an officer who would be reclassified as a corporal.
Tewes noted that not all towed vehicles would be held at the police department’s impound lot. Vehicles towed that were abandoned or in accidents would still go to one of the four lots.
