LAKEPORT, Calif. – Action taken by the Board of Supervisors last week is expected to give a much-needed financial boost to efforts to abate abandoned vehicles in the unincorporated county and the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport.
In a unanimous vote, the board approved the disbursement of the $356,000 in abandoned vehicle abatement fee funding and the continuing collection of the fee.
County Deputy Administrative Officer Jeff Rein explained that the abandoned vehicle abatement, or AVA, fee is a $1 vehicle registration fee added by the mutual consent of the county and the two cities in 1991 to fund a countywide vehicle abatement program.
When Proposition 26 passed it 2010, it reclassified some fees as taxes that are subject to voter approval. “But it has remained unclear whether the AVA fee was subject to Prop. 26,” Rein said.
Despite that uncertainty, the Department of Motor Vehicles has continued to collect the fee, said Rein.
Due to an abundance of caution, the funds collected haven't been dispersed since 2012 and have been sitting since that time in a county trust fund. Rein said the accumulated amount totaled $356,000.
Rein said an opinion issued by the state attorney general has given a bit of clarity on the issue and provided a possible basis on which to conclude the abandoned vehicle abatement fee is not subject to Proposition 26.
That opinion was further explained for the board in a memo from County Counsel Anita Grant. In particular, Grant noted, in her memo, “ The Attorney General’s Office concluded that when charges required to be collected by cities, counties, and cities and counties are intended principally for the protection of the health and safety of the public, they are validly levied regulatory fees and do not constitute an unlawful tax.”
As a result of the California Attorney General's Office opinion, Rein said county administrative staff recommended the supervisors approve continuing to collect the fee and to disburse it to the local governments.
Board Chair Jeff Smith said he had asked for the abandoned vehicle abatement fee to be put on the agenda. “It's something that really benefits every citizen, whether they pay the fee or not.”
He wanted to move forward with disbursing the money and using it to clean up the many abandoned vehicles that are blighting communities around the county.
Supervisor Rob Brown agreed. He said he met with Lt. Hector Paredes, commander of the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office, who said he is willing to help the county with the abandoned vehicle issue.
Brown said the fee offers a really good opportunity for the cities and county to work toward something that's beneficial for all of Lake County.
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira thanked the board for bringing the matter back for consideration.
“This is a great tool for the city,” she said, noting the city gets a lot of calls for abandoned vehicles.
Smith said a meeting of the committee that oversees the abandoned vehicle abatement fee needs to be scheduled right away, with an audit conducted and a budget completed. Smith himself has sat on that committee for many years.
Greg Folsom, Clearlake's city manager, also thanked the board and Smith in particular.
“This is an extreme problem in our city,” Folsom said of abandoned vehicles.
He said the city has only had about a $5,000 annual vehicle abatement budget. Folsom said they spent more than half of that on just one vehicle, a burned-out motorhome.
Brown offered two motions, the first, to disburse the funds collected through Dec. 31 to the county and the two cities, and the second, to authorize the continued collection and distribution of AVA funding absent voter consideration. The board approved both motions unanimously.
“Thank you very much,” said Smith. “It's been a long time coming.”
In other business during the nearly 70-minute meeting, the board approved new planning commission appointments. John Hess, Matt Levesque and Daniel Suenram will now represent districts 1, 4 and 5 on the commission, respectively.
The board also agreed to create a new municipal advisory council for the Lucerne area, approved the findings of fact for denying appeals against the Wild Diamond Vineyards project near Middletown, held a second hearing of an updated master fee schedule, continued a proclamation of a local health emergency in response to the Clayton fire, and consented to Auditor-Controller/County Clerk Cathy Saderlund's request to change her short-staffed department's counter hours to 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. through June while she works to recruit new employees.
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Abandoned vehicle abatement fee to help with communities' cleanup efforts
- Elizabeth Larson
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