Crime & Safety
Police to Charge More for Impounding Cars
Trustees approved plans to raise the impound fee from $300 to $500, and auction off property seized or found by the police department.
These days, everyone in government is looking for a way to bring in more revenues. Recently, Chief Daniel Meyers proposed two of them, and the Village Board agreed to both.
First, if you are pulled over in Montgomery and arrested, either for a criminal offense or an outstanding warrant, it’s going to cost you more to get your car back. Currently, the police department charges $300 to release impounded vehicles, and that money goes to cover processing, court fees and other expenses.
That fee will now rise to $500, which Meyers said will put the village in line with other neighboring communities. The fee is paid to the towing company, Meyers said, but turned over to the village on a monthly basis.
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Trustee Pete Heinz questioned the need for an increase.
“The way it is now, a lot of people will not be able to afford $500,” Heinz said at last Monday’s Village Board meeting.
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Meyers responded that those committing criminal acts, such as driving under the influence, or those wanted on warrants, “shouldn’t be driving in town.”
The ordinance passed 4-1, with Trustee Andy Kaczmarek voting no, and Heinz abstaining.
Meyers also proposed working with online company PropertyRoom.com to auction off lost or abandoned items collected by the police department during in the course of investigations.
PropertyRoom.com was founded in 1999 by former police officers, and specializes in the auction of “stolen, seized, found and surplus goods and vehicles,” according to its website.
The company currently works with more than 1,500 law enforcement and public service agencies nationwide.
Meyers said the police department is running out of storage space for all of the seized or found items collected through the years. After six months, if no one has claimed that property, the department is authorized to get rid of it, Meyers said.
That is where PropertyRoom.com will come in. The company will auction off these items, and return 50 percent to 75 percent of the funds to the police department, depending on the item sold, Meyers said.
Trustees approved the agreement with PropertyRoom.com unanimously.
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