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Committee seeks answers after audit flagged missing cash and vehicle inventory at city tow lots
Summary
Committee members questioned Streets Department leadership about a recent audit that reported missing cash and a large inventory discrepancy at city tow lots. The department said it disagrees with aspects of the audit and will investigate further.
Committee members raised concerns about the towing division after a recent audit and news coverage that reported missing cash and missing inventory at city tow lots.
Interim Streets Director Jim Solman told the committee, "We disagree with the audit, and we're working with the mayor's office to get some sort of response." He said the daily cash the tow operation collects is roughly $500 and that a contractor/security firm transports that money to City Hall. "So where they found $80,000 in cash, we don't know, but we are looking in that to come up with an answer," Solman said.
Committee members referenced an audit finding that the tow-lot inventory showed as many as 568 of 1,133 vehicles missing from inventory with a fiscal loss cited in press accounts near $5.9 million. Solman said he was not familiar with missing vehicles and said he would investigate the report.
Why it matters: derelict and abandoned vehicles affect neighborhood quality of life, and questions about cash handling and inventory controls raise oversight and accountability concerns for any agency that stores impounded vehicles and auctions derelict cars.
Discussion and immediate follow-up
- Audit disagreement and investigation: Department leadership said they were reviewing the audit findings with the mayor's office and would report back. Solman described the usual cash handling as daily collections of about $500 transported by a contractor to City Hall; he said the department needs to determine how an $80,000 cash figure in the audit arose.
- Inventory and disposition process: Committee members asked about tow-lot capacity and how the city disposes of derelict vehicles. Solman described a legal hold process, a weekly auction process "every Thursday then, the ones that get freed up, you know, police have got to check them, sign every Thursday. They have an auction." He said sales typically return about $150 per junk car at auction.
- Storage constraints: Committee members noted lots are at or near capacity, which can limit enforcement and timeliness of removal; Solman said space constraints can delay tows and impound processing.
Ending
The department pledged to look into both the cash-handling discrepancy and the reported inventory shortfall and to provide the committee with further information. No formal findings or disciplinary actions were taken at the hearing.
