Cities Turn Junked Cars Into Revenue

Cars abandoned in streets and parking lots are junk that cities must remove, but they are also a potential revenue source for police agencies across the county.

Under a state program that an increasing number of cities are using, police departments can collect money to reimburse them for officer time spent tagging abandoned vehicles and doing the paperwork required to impound them and tow them away.

“The monetary benefit to police departments is obvious,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Davis, who oversees police services for Laguna Niguel. Officers would be involved removing junkers anyway, so the state reimbursement is a bonus.

“We can use those resources for street cops to do street cop work or drug education programs,” Davis said.

The money goes into a city’s general fund and can be used for any purpose. Laguna Niguel, for instance, recently used $11,000 of its reimbursement from the program to buy its Police Department new computers, a digital camera and a camcorder, and two bicycles for community patrols.

In 1994, the most recent full year for which figures are available, Orange County cities collected more than $8 million through the program, established in 1992.

The county’s two largest cities, Anaheim and Santa Ana, use the program extensively. In 1994, Anaheim collected $216,580 for tagging and towing. After launching a concerted effort in 1995 to crack down on abandoned vehicles, the city collected $207,894 in the first half.

Santa Ana collected $232,309 in 1994.

To collect, police departments must document each instance in which a vehicle is tagged--posted with a 72-hour warning to move the car or risk having it towed--and what follow-up work is done to arrange for towing.

The state then reimburses the agency $25.94 for each tag and $64.06 for following up on each vehicle. The money comes from state car owner fees--$1 is set aside for each vehicle registered with the state.

Individual cities and the county Sheriff’s Department have established their own procedures for getting junkers off the streets. The overall program is administered by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Each jurisdiction handles the procedure a bit differently, said Todd Murphy, special projects manager for OCTA. “Some may have a larger problem, and some are very aggressive.”

Davis of the Sheriff’s Department said the program benefits the community beyond monetary gain. “Vehicles that are abandoned are hazardous because kids wind up playing in them,” he said. “And they are bad for community pride.”