SR-211-025
PD:JTB:f:\police\share\staffrpt\motorist awareness Santa Monica, California
Council Meeting: June 13, 2000
Mayor and City Council
TO:
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Approve a Cost Recovery Plan for the Proposed
Unlicensed Motorist Awareness/30-Day Vehicle Impound Program and to
Adopt a Resolution Establishing a 30-Day Impound Vehicle Release Fee
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council approve a cost recovery plan for the Police
Department’s Unlicensed Motorist Awareness/30-Day Vehicle Impound Program. This
report also recommends that Council adopt the attached resolution to set $210 as the 30-
day impound vehicle release fee.
BACKGROUND
In January 1999, Council approved Police Department plans for the Unlicensed Motorist
Awareness/30-Day Vehicle Impound Program. The program consists of both enforcement
and educational efforts.
The program’s enforcement component consists of increased efforts by Police Department
personnel to identify unlicensed drivers, and those who drive with suspended or revoked
licenses, and to remove those drivers and their vehicles from City streets through
application of the 30-day vehicle impound. In addition to traditional enforcement methods
directed at improperly licensed drivers, checkpoint operations will also be employed.
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The educational component includes presentations on penalties for driving without a
license or with a revoked or suspended license, given by Police Department staff
members, and the distribution of traffic safety information materials on a citywide basis.
The program will also result in specialized training on driver license violations for the
Police Department’s field personnel.
One (1.0) FTE additional Police Traffic Enforcement Officer will be added for program
administration and operation. Annual program costs (including overhead) are projected to
be approximately $126,000. A California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grant is available in
support of the first 27 months of program operation. The OTS grant will provide up to
$192,000 to the City during fiscal years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002.
To provide ongoing funding for the program, it is necessary to establish a 30-Day Vehicle
Impound Release Fee, which is based on a valid program cost recovery plan. Such a plan
has been prepared and reviewed by officials in all involved City Departments. That cost
recovery plan calls for a 30-Day Vehicle Impound Release fee of $210. The attached
resolution specifies that the vehicle release fee shall be indexed to the Consumer Price
Index (CPI), in order that the fee may increase in proportion to increases in the operational
costs of this new traffic safety program. Revenue from collection of the vehicle release fee
and from issuance of traffic citations, as a result of program operation, is projected to be
sufficient to cover all program costs in the future.
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BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
Initial planning for program operations is currently underway and is being financed from
the Police Department’s existing operating budget. Appropriations for program operation
in FY 2000-2001 will be included in the City’s FY 2000-2001 Adopted Budget.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve the program cost recovery plan described
herein and adopt the attached resolution which sets $210 as the 30-Day Vehicle Impound
Release Fee and authorizes annual increases of the fee, equivalent to increases in the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the United States Department of Labor, to cover
annual increases in program costs resulting from inflation.
Prepared by: James T. Butts, Jr., Chief of Police
Attachment: Resolution
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