RESOLUTION NO. __________
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CHULA VISTA AMENDING THE CITY -INITIATED TOW
LICENSE FEE
WHEREAS, on December 7, 20 21, City Council approved agreements with seven companies to provide tow and impound services for City-initiated tows; and
WHEREAS, each agreement provides that the Tow License Fee is subject to review and revision each year; and
WHEREAS, the Police Department is requesting Council approval to update th is fee for calendar year 2025; and
WHEREAS, California Vehicle Code section 12110 authorizes the City to assess a Tow License Fee to tow companies “to reimburse the public entity for its actual and reasonable costs incurred in connection with the towing program”; and
WHEREAS, the Tow License Fee relates to staff recovery costs of requesting a tow call for service, from the start time a police employee calls for a tow request to the end time that the tow company leaves the scene; and
WHEREAS, the computation of the City’s Tow License Fee for 2025 effective January 1, 2025, as presented to the City Council, will be apportioned equally among the City’s contracted tow service providers for payment to City; and
WHEREAS, the City intends to re-calculate and revise the City-initiated Tow License Fee every year using the same methodology.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Chula Vista, that it amends the City-initiated Tow License Fee as follows:
(Annual estimate of police-initiated tows) x (Estimated time spent per tow) x (Fully burdened hourly rate) = Tow License Fee
Position
Annual
Estimate of
Police-Initiated
Tows 1
Hours Spent
per
Police-Initiated
Tow 2
Fully
Burdened
Hourly Rate 3
Tow
License Fee
Peace Officer 1,563 0.53 $126.60 $104,874
Community Service Officer 1,250 0.53 $76.09 $50,410
Sr Parking Enforcement Officer 660 0.53 $78.18 $27,347 Police Dispatcher 3,473 0.08 $101.38 $28,167
TOTAL $210,798
1 2-year average of calendar years 2022 and 2023 is 3,473 tows. Does not include private tows or tows during grant-funded operations. Tow request breakdown by classification (Officer 45% of tow requests; CSO 36%; PEO 19%)
2 Estimated 32 minutes of Officer/CSO/PEO time during a tow call for service. Estimated 5 minutes of Police Dispatcher time
3 Fully Burdened Hourly Rate provided by Finance Department
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the total Tow License Fee shall be divided equally among the tow operators under the agreements with the City during calendar year 2025.
Presented by Approved as to form by
Roxana Kennedy Marco A. Verdugo
Chief of Police City Attorney