VC Grand Jury: First report finds vehicle impound fees all over the road

    March 28, 2012
    By Peggy Kelly
    Santa Paula News

    A Ventura County Grand Jury review of vehicle impound costs in the county found release fees are all over the road, but what was questioned was a fee in Thousand Oaks, where vehicle release prices are the county’s highest.

    The grand jury study focused on fees charged by cities to release vehicles impounded due to driving without a license and driving under the influence. 

    Santa Paula’s fee for vehicles impounded for both offenses is $121. The lowest fee to spring a vehicle in the county is charged by Simi Valley, $77 for both offenses; and the highest Thousand Oaks, where the release fee is $300 for driving without a license and $400 if the vehicle was impounded due to DUI. The very lowest fee is $11 for Ventura County Sheriff’s Department patrolled unincorporated areas of the county.

    The Grand Jury noted they grew interested in the subject of towing fees following reports that the scandal-plagued City of Bell was using abusive impound as another method of raising money from its mostly low-income residents. 

    In the first of the reports to be released by the Grand Jury this year, jurors also questioned an offset fee charged by Thousand Oaks for Smart Start teen driving classes that conflicts with the vehicle code. The grand jury recommended that Thousand Oaks review the legal basis for the offset fee, and suggested standardization of tasks, labor and overhead related to vehicle release fees to be outlined in the city’s mandated reply to the report. 

    Cities charging the same price for driving without a license and DUI impounded vehicles include Camarillo ($80), Fillmore ($115), Moorpark ($110), Ojai ($100) and Simi Valley ($77.70). Oxnard collects a $241 vehicle release fee for driving without a license and $416 for DUI, Port Hueneme charges $160 and $200, while Ventura charges $200 for driving without a license and $247 for DUI. The California Highway Patrol collects no fee for the release of a vehicle.

    Fees charged by the cities and county for impound do not include storage and other costs incurred by the towing companies that actually pickup and store the vehicles.





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