Menlo Park Cuts Release Fees for Towed Vehicles

As of today, drivers whose cars are towed by Menlo Park police will pay less to get their vehicles back.

The Menlo Park City Council voted unanimously to reduce the Police Department's vehicle release fees for infractions, misdemeanors and felonies to $125 -- a reduction of 38 to 58 percent -- and to eliminate the "early release for impounded vehicle" fee. The changes became effective after the vote Tuesday night.

The city conducted a survey recently that revealed that Menlo Park's current release fees are among the highest in  San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, according to city documents for last night's meeting.

City Councilman Ray Mueller said he and others on the council worked with City Manager Alex McIntyre to study the issue after a KQED-Peninsula Press investigation reported Menlo Park's vehicle release fees were much higher than in San Diego and Sacramento.

Last summer, KQED reported that vehicle impounds for driving with a suspended license in Menlo Park nearly tripled from 2008 to 2014, and that low-income and minority drivers were hit the hardest. Many of those drivers couldn't afford or chose not to pay the steep impound costs and lost their vehicles permanently.

"At the end of the day we want to make sure that we are not putting our residents in a difficult situation to earn a living," said Mueller, who acted as mayor in 2014.  "There’s a balance between enforcing the law and creating a situation when the law is enforced that people can’t recover. We really wanted to do this to create a more proper balance."

Driving with a suspended license is considered a misdemeanor in California, and police may impound offenders' vehicles for up to 30 days. For drivers to get their vehicles back, they must first pay court fees to recover their licenses. On top of that, they must pay towing and storage charges and police fees.

In Menlo Park, a 30-day impound plus police fees add up to a minimum of $2,300, a hefty price tag for drivers who may have lost their licenses  because they could not afford traffic fines.

If drivers are unable to pay the charges, they lose their vehicle permanently. Fewer than half of the cars impounded for 30 days are picked up by owners, according to managers at three towing companies working with Menlo Park.

The vehicles left at impound lots are sold by towing companies at auctions or to a junkyard. The lien sale proceeds go to cover the amount these companies charge for towing and daily storage. If the sale isn’t enough to cover that cost, the registered owners may lose their vehicle and still be on the hook for the rest of the tab.

The Police Department fee changes, reviewed as part of the city's annual comprehensive fee amendments, will cost the city about $50,000 in annual revenue.