Carolyn Rusin/Triblocal reporter
Palatine just doubled to $500 what it charges a driver whose car is impounded because it was involved in a crime and makes no apologies for having offenders help pay for police and fire services instead of putting the entire burden on taxpayers.
“Law enforcement and firefighting – this stuff is not cheap and rather than to raise people’s taxes, let those who violate the law pay for time spent on them,” said Police Chief John Koziol. “An arrest that involves a tow takes the officer off the road for a period of time. A DUI offense alone is an hour and a half.”
Barrington and Cary do not impose fees for impounding vehicles, believing they cannot because they do not have home-rule powers, but that didn’t stop Fox River Grove, which started assessing fees earlier this month.
In recent years, municipalities have increasingly punished vehicle owners for crimes happening in their cars – even if the owners themselves didn’t commit them.
The Tribune found that more than 100 communities passed ordinances to seize vehicles police say were used in crimes, and then charge owners hefty fees – usually $500 or more – to get the vehicles back. That’s on top of traditional towing fees and whatever fines may come from criminal charges.
They say the fees are needed to cover the costs of impounds in tight budget times. But critics say many towns gouge vehicle owners in a system with fewer safeguards than criminal courts to protect the innocent.
With no state laws governing the practices, a review found wide variation in who charges extra fees, how much they charge, what crimes draw the charges, and how much leeway police give owners to avoid the fees.
Palatine first started charging $250 in late 2008 to owners of vehicles involved in DUIs and where more than 30 grams of cannabis was found. Earlier this year, other offenses, such as driving on a revoked or suspended license and no valid driver’s license ever issued, were added, and in April, the fee was increased to $500.
“We waited many years before doing this,” Koziol said, but then saw other towns impose fees.
“We started off slowly. There is some logic here as to why you charge this person. The logic behind this is to get the law breakers to pay for their crimes opposed to the law-abiding taxpayer,” he said.
Police are not looking to gauge motorists, Koziol said. In some cases, if a motorist has a passenger with a valid driver’s license and who is not impaired, that passenger can drive the vehicle, he said.
Koziol hopes the fee is a deterrent, but believes it is too early to tell. The ordinance allows the fee to be appealed, plus if the driver is found not guilty, the money is returned, he said.
Barrington and Cary have held off imposing fees for impounding.
“In order to do that, you have to be a home-rule community, and we’re not,” said acting Cary Deputy Police Chief Geoff Cooker.
But then he qualified that by saying it could be done but there would be a lot of “legalese” and village and police officials would first have to determine if such a fee would be “ethical.”
Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler, who was police chief for about 12 years, said he recommended against imposing a fee, in part because of non-home rule status. He believes an impound fee in addition to a tow fee could affect “the penalty assessed by the court (or judge)” on a convicted offender, and, “The penalties received in court are the penalties the village receives.”
While Fox River Grove also does not have home-rule status, the Village Board earlier this month passed an ordinance to charge a $250 fee for motorists whose cars are impounded or towed, said Police Chief Ron Lukasik, who suggested the idea.
“We had heard there was a possibility you could do this,” he said.
Lukasik said the amount of the fee was determined by what it costs for the police department to process a tow, along with other things, such as an officer’s time.
“We’re paying the officer. We have paperwork associated with (the tow process),” Lukasik said. In some circumstances, towing a vehicle takes three officers off the street – two to take a suspect back to the station for booking and another to wait for tow truck.
Police impound vehicles that are involved in such crimes as driving under the influence, having a revoked or suspended driver’s licence, driving without proof of insurance and drug offenses, he said.
As of July 23, he said two people have been assessed the fee since the ordinance was passed on July 15. One was a man who was driving drunk and crashed his car into a utility box along Route 22. The other was driving with a suspended license and was wanted on a warrant.
For more information on this story, click here.
