City Council
MEETING DATE: 12/10/2014
TITLE:
Title
DUI Impound VICR Fee Resolution
End
FROM:
Kevin H. Conner, Police Chief
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
This item is presented for Council discussion and direction.
Body
BACKGROUND:
Over the past year, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) Public Safety Committee has been working on regional efforts to address Driving Under the Influence (DUI). A DUI Ad Hoc Task Force was formed, comprised of local law enforcement, elected officials and representatives from community based organizations. Through its research, the Task Force drafted a Model Ordinance/Resolution, which financially impacts drivers who choose to drink and drive, and are involved in an auto accident resulting in the impound and towing of their vehicle. The draft Model Ordinance was passed by the Public Safety Committee in April 2014, and recommended for adoption by the member jurisdictions.
Vehicle Code Section 22850.5, added by Assembly Bill 481, Chapter 614 Statutes of 1993, became effective January 1st, 1994, and specifically authorizes cities by ordinance or resolution to establish an administrative charge relative to the removal, impound, storage, or release of vehicles. The City of Cathedral City has this vehicle impound cost recovery (VICR) fee already in place.
The proposed DUI/VICR Resolution creates a vehicle impound cost recovery fee directly related to DUI drivers involved in traffic collisions. The approval of the fee would reimburse the City for the expense incurred in these specific types of investigations, which can be costly in terms of personnel time. As an example, the City of Indian Wells, which contracts with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, currently has a $671 DUI/VICR fee, which is based on the current Riverside County Sheriff contract rates for police services.
Currently, the City of Cathedral City has existing VICR fees in place, which apply to unlicensed and suspended drivers whose vehicles are impounded. Under the proposed DUI/VICR Fee Resolution, the owners of vehicles would only be required to pay the higher of these Administrative Fees if more than one is applicable to a specific incident. These fees are not cumulative, so only one fee is charged per vehicle.
DISCUSSION:
Police Officers receive calls for service when a person has been involved in a traffic collision and is under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. The costs incurred by the City for officers' arresting and processing drivers arrested for driving under the influence at the scene of collisions is currently in excess of the current VICR fee.
The current fully burdened rate for City police personnel is based on FYE 2015 salary and budget data. This rate includes three cost layers, identified as direct labor, departmental indirect labor, and central overhead, which includes the salary, fringe benefits, insurance, and numerous support systems. The support systems include, but are not limited to the following: supervision in the form of sergeants, lieutenants, and upper administration; dispatch, logistical support; clerical staff and systems; investigations; and all the associated infrastructure and equipment that goes along with those systems.
The following chart details the time spent and associated costs incurred by the City of Cathedral City when a DUI driver involved in a collision is arrested and the vehicle is towed or impounded by officers of the Cathedral City Police Department.
Personnel |
Duties |
Time Spent |
Fully Burdened Rate |
Total Expense Incurred |
Police Officer |
Conduct Investigation (Field Sobriety Tests, Scene documentation, report preparation. |
4.5 Hours |
$101 |
$454.50 |
Police Officer Assistant |
NCIC Entry, Notice of Stored Vehicle Mailings, Report Processing (court DMV, imaging and filing). |
.25 Hours |
$67 |
$16.75 |
Sergeant/Supervisor |
Review and Approve Report. |
.50 Hours |
$128 |
$64 |
City Accounting Technician |
Administrative processing. |
.30 Hours |
$51 |
$15.30 |
|
$550.00 |
The owners of vehicles would only be required to pay the higher of the VICR fees if more than one is applicable to a specific incident. For example, an impaired driver with a suspended driver's license is involved in a traffic collision and arrested for DUI. The driver would be required to pay the proposed DUI/VICR fee ($550) and not the lower VICR fee ($155) charged to drivers with suspended licenses. As previously noted, the fees are not cumulative and only one fee may be charged per vehicle.
FISCAL IMPACT:
From 2011 to 2013, the Cathedral City Police Department handled an average of sixty-eight (68) DUI traffic collisions per year with an estimated cost of more than $111,000 in personnel time over the three year period. If implemented, a DUI VICR fee of $550 per vehicle towed would produce the following estimated reimbursements, based on a 60% collection rate, i.e., estimating that six (6) out of ten (10) vehicle owners would recover their vehicle from impound.
City |
Projected Annual DUI Traffic Collision Arrests |
VICR Fee |
VICR Fee Total Projection |
Estimated VICR Fee Collection Rate |
Fees Collected per Year |
Cathedral City |
68 |
$550 |
$37,400 |
60% |
$19,800 |
ATTACHMENTS:
DUI VICR Fee Resolution
Exhibit A - DUI VICR Cost Calculation