HomeMy WebLinkAbout041124 email - Abandoned_Impounded VehiclesALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Commissioners,
My name is Chris Rice and I share in the new ownership of Northwest Towing and Recovery now located in Port Hadlock. I'm writing to discuss an issue that has cropped up in the
past year of owning this business. Currently we, along with All City Towing, share and alternate in the removal and impoundment of vehicles at the request of Jefferson County Sheriff's
Office and Port Townsend Police Department. Requests can vary from Accident Recovery, DUI Impoundment, to removing Abandoned Vehicles, ETC. In the normal course of Impound we seek
compensation from the vehicle owner to return the vehicle to them or if unclaimed the vehicle will then go to auction, but if unsold at auction they are then scrapped at a metal recycling
center. This cover's our costs of the initial tow along with any storage and administration costs that may accrue. Unfortunately most of our impound requests these days are for Abandoned
Vehicles; due to the nature of these vehicles almost none are reclaimed by the Registered Owner or sell at auction and therefore must be scrapped.
This then is the issue; All of the time and costs are absorbed by the Towing company and always at a loss financially due to the low return on scrapped vehicles. Per RCW 46.55
the towing company must follow a series of State requirements before we can dispose of a vehicle. This process takes 20 days to complete before we can run an auction and incurs processing
fees the towing company must absorb. If a private person were to request we remove an Abandoned Vehicle from their property we can do so on their behalf but we charge them for the
service. In most cases the fee is about $254.00/hr, and $66.00/day storage as this is the WSP (Washington State Patrol) rate that has been used and is based on. The cost charged to
the Private requesting party is the bare minimum to cover the initial towing and administration costs associated with impounding a vehicle.
What I propose is Jefferson County and Northwest Towing and Recovery formalize a relationship whereby should an Abandoned Vehicle, that we have impounded at the County or City's
request, get all the way to being sent to scrap. Northwest Towing and Recovery would submit an Invoice to Jefferson County for the cost of the initial tow ($254.00/hr) and then we
would retain any value in the vehicle when it goes to scrap to cover Administration and Storage costs associated with the Impoundment which can run up to $1500-$1800.00
As it stands, Northwest Towing and All City Towing, is incurring all the costs associated with this type of Impound. I would like to come to an understanding so that we continue to
serve our County and share in the costs associated with the blight of abandoned vehicles.
Thank you for your consideration,
Chris Rice
Northwest Towing and Recovery
360-379-8595