As the Village of Riverside searches for ways to raise revenues in order to limit budget cuts in 2007, trustees are contemplating charging a $500 per vehicle impoundment fee to people charged with driving under the influence, driving on a suspended or revoked license, driving without a valid license. The $500 fee would also be levied against anyone charged with a felony whose vehicle is impounded as a result of the arrest.
According to a memo prepared by Assistant Chief Thomas Weitzel, imposing the fee could raise as much as $150,000 in 2007. Such an infusion of cash would allow the police department to reinstate tens of thousands of dollars in cuts for officer training and public safety initiatives proposed in the village’s 2007 budget.
According to the proposed 2007 budget, which was released last week and discussed by board members and department heads at a special workshop Saturday morning, while personnel costs are expected to rise by 6 percent, the department’s operations budget would be slashed 8 percent or just over $18,000. Capital expenditures in the police the department are expected to be cut by 17 percent from 2006.
Police Chief Eugene Karczewski decried having to cut roughly $105,000 from his original budget request for 2007, saying it would “have a devastating effect on the police department’s ability to police in the future.”
If the police department were asked to make further cuts in future years, Karczewski said those cuts would come from the officer ranks. Karczewski said that had he known such drastic cuts were necessary for 2007, he would not have hired a new patrolman to replace Commander Mark Tuma, who retired in July.
According to Karczewski, the proposed vehicle impoundment fee would be similar to ones that already exist in Chicago and several suburban municipalities. Bolingbrook, for example, imposes a vehicle impoundment fee related to over two dozen offenses. Hanover Park, Karczewski said, raked in some $260,000 in revenue in the first year of assessing the penalty to those whose cars were impounded after being charged with a crime.
According to Weitzel, the fee would essentially allow the Riverside Police Department to recoup administrative costs related to processing offenders.
“It would be recouping the officer’s times, the response time, the booking of prisoners,” Weitzel said.
The seizure notice would be given to arrestees at the time the vehicle is towed. That notice would state that the arrestee has a right to an administrative hearing to determine, in Weitzel’s words, whether it was “a lawful arrest or tow.”
If the hearing determines that the arrest/tow was lawful, the arrestee must then pay $500 to the Village of Riverside before he can recover his vehicle from the towing company. If the arrestee wants to recover the vehicle prior to the hearing, he must give the village $500 as a bond. If the hearing finds in favor of the arrestee, the bond would be returned.
Weitzel said that the village may contemplate a provision that also allows the $500 fee to be returned if the arrestee is found not guilty in court.
In 2005, Riverside police made 221 arrests for suspended and revoked licenses and another 138 for DUI. With a DUI conviction rate of 92 percent in 2005, police believe that the impoundment fee would be a strong revenue source for the department.
“This seems like a no-brainer,” said Village President Harold J. Wiaduck Jr. “Given the nature of the offenses, I don’t know why we wouldn’t be enthusiastic about doing this. If it does anything to get these people off the streets, let’s do it. If we benefit from it [financially], fine.”
The only village trustee to question the proposed impoundment penalty was Kevin Smith, who said that the village might not be able to collect as much money as it thinks just by imposing it. He also said that imposing the penalty up front flies in the face of a presumption of innocence.
“You leave yourself open to allegations that you’re arresting people to get $500,” Smith said. “I’m leery of tacking on a fee that says we’re charging you $500 because we’re arresting you.”
Higher ambulance fees, cigarette tax
The 2007 budget also contemplates increasing ambulance fees. The budget already includes $20,000 in additional revenue from ambulance fees, although Village Manager Kathleen Rush said that the village could get up to $25,000 more money by raising the fees. No concrete proposal is on the table presently, but should be in place by the time the 2007 budget is approved by board members in December.
The village collects ambulance fees from the insurance companies of residents who require transport to hospitals by the fire department.
The village board also appears to favor a cigarette tax of 1 cent per pack sold in the village, as long as the cost to administer the collection of the tax is not more than it would take to impose it. Revenue from such a tax is expected to be minuscule.