The Tow Policy requires that rates charged by the provider shall not exceed rates approved by the local office of the California Highway Patrol. These are the rates upon which charges to the City as well as vehicle owners are based. Currently, those rates are:
Tow: |
$210.00 |
Storage: |
$60.00 |
Gate Fee: |
$105.00 (after hours) |
The City incurs costs for towing and daily storage for any vehicles impounded for evidence. Brea Towing currently charges the City 50% of charges incurred for initial towing and the first thirty (30) days of vehicle storage. Under the proposed Agreement and Tow Policy, the Towing Provider will still charge 50% of the initial tow service fee. However, storage rates have been modified. The Police Department sought to reduce costs associated with evidence storage of vehicles. A sliding scale of storage fees was developed to allow the department to limit costs by quickly processing evidence and releasing vehicles within the first five days, as well as to address longer-term storage costs. Generally, evidence storage costs will be reduced by up to 25% for shorter term storage, which account for the majority of vehicle evidence storage needs. Long-term storage costs will also see a slight reduction.
The annualized fiscal impact of the proposed Agreement and Tow Policy in dollars is difficult to calculate since the costs are incident driven. Yearly expenditures fluctuate based on the number of incidents requiring the impoundment of vehicles and the length of impoundment necessary for investigative purposes. For example, the department budgeted $6,000 for impound costs in FY17-18, yet had expended nearly $10,000 in the first nine months of the fiscal year. Under the revised Tow Policy the City would have saved approximately $1,000-$2,000. For FY18-19, the department has proposed a budget amount of $8,000 for costs related to towing services.
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