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SafeClear Major Freeway Towing and Emergency Road Service Program

Learn about the evolution of the SafeClear program, its funding challenges, and potential solutions. Presented by the Houston Police Department.

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SafeClear Major Freeway Towing and Emergency Road Service Program

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  1. SafeClear Major Freeway Towing and Emergency Road Service Program Houston Police Department Charles A. McClelland, Jr. – Chief of Police Presented by: CFO & Deputy Director Joseph A. Fenninger and Lieutenant Wendy Baimbridge

  2. SafeClear - Evolution 5/26/04 Council approved towing of vehicles, operation of auto wreckers, authorized HPD to enter contracts, provided for fees & other provisions • Designed to be self-funding. City’s costs to manage are reimbursed from fees paid by tow operators for exclusive segment rights. In turn, tow operators paid for tows by vehicle owners • 11/23/04 • & 12/1/04 • Council approved tow agreements for 29 highway segments to 11 tow operators

  3. SafeClear - Evolution 1/1/05 SafeClear program goes live • Citizens protest $75 imposed tow fee and “confiscation” of private property • 2/2/05 • Program redesigned - New: free tows to “safe drop” locations - COH to pay tow operators $50 per tow First Economic Change COH incurs tow costs in addition to ongoing operating costs • 6/22/05 • City Council caps General Fund support for SafeClear at $879,000

  4. SafeClear - Evolution 6/29/05 City Council approved $1.5 million to pay for free tows with funds sourced from Metro • 8/31/05 • Judge Hoyt enjoined two SafeClear provisions: 1. Regulation of consent towing rates 2. Exclusion of non-SafeClear tow operators from major freeways. • 11/22/05 • Council action removed exclusive towing rights from SafeClear ordinance. Hence, COH could no longer charge segment fees to tow operators. Second Economic Change COH loses revenue to offset operating and tow costs. Total program costs are now borne by the City.

  5. SafeClear - Evolution 6/21/06 City Council capped the funding to SafeClear from the General Fund at $389,352 City Council approved an ordinance amending the SafeClear program to: - reduce tow rates from $61.61 to $50.00 saving the City approximately $478,000 per year - increase the maximum contract amount - approve an additional contract term - authorize the COP to replace terminated or suspended operators • 10/14/09

  6. SafeClear – Annual Sources & UsesAnnual Sources: Metro $2,889,352 + GF $389,352 = $3,278,704

  7. Options to Resolve Funding Issue • Keep SafeClear in HPD: • Retain funding sources (METRO & GF) • Raise cap on city-wide general tow rate from $140 to $152 - incremental $12 to be paid to the HPD for the SafeClear program • Incremental revenue of $1.6 to $1.9 million will offset the SafeClear deficit

  8. SafeClear - Options • Transfer SafeClear to METRO • METRO officials are considering a transfer • METRO would: - retain the current annual contribution of $2.889 million to fund SafeClear - need to find other revenue sources to cover the total program costs Note: Such transfer would allow the return of 14 HPD classifieds to regular police duties, but their salary costs would be a net increase to the General Fund of approximately $1.5 million.

  9. SafeClear Major Freeway Towing and Emergency Road Service Program Questions and Answers

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