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Council Meetlng: February 161 1993 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and Clty Councl1
FROM: Clty Staff
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO
NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE AGREEMENTS TO IMPLEMENT THE
ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS OF AB408 AND DIRECT THE CITY
ATTORNEY TO PREPARE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE SANTA
MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO CHANGE VARIOUS VEHICLE AND
PARKING-RELATED INFRACTIONS TO CIVIL OFFENSES AND
REVISE THE AMOUNT OF VARIOUS FINES
INTRODUCTION
On July I, 1993 AB408 will take effect decrlminallzing parking
and varlOUS other vehlcle-related violations I and requiring the
City to establlsh an administrative hearing procedure in place of
the criminal court system to enforce and prosecute such
vlolations. ThlS presents the City with an excellent opportunlty
to cooperate wlth some of the Wests ide City Summit members to
implement unifled admlnlstratlve procedures and standardlze
flnes. This staff report request the Council's approval of these
cooperatlve efforts, and requests the Council to direct the city
Attorney to prepare an ordlnance to establlsh a schedule of flnes
consistent wlth those in place in Beverly Hllls and ~vest
Hollywood.
BACKGROUND
AB408 provides that any violatlon of an unlawful parking or
related vehlcle law is to be subject to a C1Vll rather than a
crlminal flne schedule established by the governlng body of the
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jurlsdlctlon which issues the vlolation, and that enforcement of
the fine shall be governed by a CiVll procedure which includes an
admlnistrative lnvestigation and review and judiclal appeal
process.
AB408 further requlres each issuing )urisdlction to enter lnto an
agreement with the court that has been lnvolved in the processing
of notices of parking and vehicle-related violations for the
orderly transfer to the lssulng jurisdiction of the processlng
responsibility no sooner than July 1, 1993, but no later than
January 1, 1994.
IMPLEMENTATION OF AB408
staff sees lmplementatlon of AB408 as a unique opportunlty to
reduce the costs of processing parking citatlons through
multi-jurisdlctional cooperatlon and standardizatlon, while
enhancing service to the publlC.
For the past several years, the cities of Santa Monica, Beverly
Hllls and \-.Jest Hollywood have had a cooperative arrangement to
use a common data base such that the administratlon of the
scofflaw/vehlcle booting program has been facilltated.
Contlnuatlon of this cooperative effort and possible expansion to
include the Clty of Culver City is expected to further reduce
admlnlstratlve costs and lmprove the efficiency of program
operations.
Cooperatlve implementation of AB408 by these Wests ide Summit
cities wlll also improve service to the public. cltizens wishing
to have thelr violatlon revlewed would be able to follow
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conslstent procedures In all participating cltles. Use of the
same admlnlstrat1ve hearing off1cers following common gU1delines
to process and deClde upon review requests will increase citizen
acceptance and comfort with the new procedure. Use of consistent
flne schedules will reduce citizen confusion, ease processing of
violatlons, and reduce administrative costs.
staff have therefore begun dlSCUSSlon with the cities of Beverly
Hllls, West Hollywood and Culver city to jointly implement the
provislons of AB408. Staff have also begun discussions with the
Santa Monlca Municlpal Court to transfer responsibilities to the
city by July 11 1993.
REVISIONS TO THE CITY'S MUNICIPAL CODE
To implement AB408, it is necessary that the Council direct the
city Attorney to prepare an ordinance which includes the
followlng changes to the city's Municipal Code:
0 Change all references to 1I1nfract1onsll in the Mun1clpal code,
Chapter 3 , Public Safety, Sections 3.04.010 through 3.16.310
to IICiVll offenses."
This 1S necessary due to AB408/s decriminallzation of parklng
and varlOUS other veh1cle-related violat1ons.
0 ReVlse current bail amount to reflect those now used by the
cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The new CiVll
penalties are to be effective July 11 1993.
The C1ty/S current bail schedule was adopted ln 1980 and 1981.
As a result, the Clty'S bail schedule lS slgn1ficantly less
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than the amounts charged by Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
The significantly lower fines charged by the City may In-
advertently encourage vlo1atlon of the law. An increased
C1Vl1 flne schedule consistent wlth the schedules of these
cities will eliminate this problem, clarify the publlC'S
understandlng of the consequences of violating the law,
facilltate implementation of the adminlstrative provisions of
AB408, and encourage a more cost-efficient joint processing of
parklng and related vehicle violations. Staff understands
that the Clty of Culver Clty lS also considering adopting a
similar flne schedule.
The Clty'S current bail amounts are $10.00 and $25.001 plus
$5.00 for the state-required Courthouse construction Fund. To
be consistent with Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, C1Vll
fines should be $18.00 to $33.001 plus the state-required
$5.00 Courthouse Construction Fund amount. In order to be
consistent with surroundlng Jurisdictions, the penalty for
late payment should also increase from the current amount of
$20.00 to a minimum of $30.00 or an amount equal to the civil
flne plus the state-required $5.00 Courthouse Fund amount.
0 Include various California Vehicle Code sections as Municipal
Code violations wlth speclfled C1Vll fines.
AB408 also speclfies that fines for the following sections of
the California Vehlcle Code are to be established by the
lssulng jurisdiction: 22500A (parked ln any
lntersectlon) ,22500B (parked in any crosswalk), 22500D (parked
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wlthln 15 feet of a flre station) , 22500E (parked in front of
private or public driveway) I 22500F (parked on sidewalk) ,
22500G (parked to obstruct trafflc), 22500H (double parking),
22502A (parked within 18 inches of curb), 22514 (parked within
15 feet of fire hydrant) , and 22515 (vehicle wlthout driver
while engine is running) . Current bail amounts are $10.001
$20.00 or $25.00 and would be increased to $28.00 or $33.00.
0 Specify that the admlnlstrative fee (currently set at $3.00)
charged by the Department of Motor Vehicles to place a vehicle
registration on hold for non-payment of a violation be the
responslblllty of the violator, and authorlze the Clty to
increase the vlolator's flne accordlngly.
CurrentlYI this administrative fee is pald by the city. To be
consistent wlth the cltles of Beverly Hllls and West Holly-
wood, and ln the lnterests of equltYI thlS payment should be
the responsibility of the violator who has failed to pay
his/her fine. It should not be paid by taxes derlved from
cltizens of the city.
0 Speclfy that a Clty parking permlt shall not be lssued until
all outstandlng parking citations are pald.
This provlslon wlll encourage vlolators to pay thelr outstand-
ing parklng cltatlons.
BUDGET AND FINANCIAL IMPACT
Revlslng the current fine amounts to those conslstent wlth the
citles of Beverly Hllls and West Hollywood would lncrease City
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revenues by approximately $2.2 million. Such an increase would
ass 1st the City in replacing a portion of the estimated $5.5
million 1n Property Taxes the Governor has proposed be shlfted to
the schools. Related adm1nlstratlve costs will be incorporated
in the proposed FY 1993-94 budget.
RECOMMENDATION
It 1S recommended that the Council:
-- Authorize the city Manager to negotiate and execute
appropriate agreements \o>llth the Santa Monica Municipal
Court and Wests ide City Summit members to implement
jointly the administrative provisions of AB408.
-- Dlrect the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance
amending the C1ty/s Municipal Code to change various
vehlcle and park1ng-related lnfractions to civil
offenses, incorporating the other substantive changes
outllned in this report, and revls1ng the amount of
fines to be consistent w1th those used by the citles of
Beverly Hllls and West Hollywood.
Prepared By: Mike Dennls, Director of Finance
Ralph Bursey, C1ty Treasurer/Revenue Manager
Debby Sowers, License, Permit and Parklng Citation
Processing Supervlsor
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