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Committee hears calls to expand towing and booting; DPW outlines impound, auction and software steps
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Summary
Residents urged more aggressive booting and towing of scofflaw vehicles and faster auctioning; Department of Public Works provided data on impounds, reclaim rates, boot costs and a planned software integration to coordinate enforcement with MPD.
Several residents and community members urged the Committee on Public Works and Operations to expand booting and towing, increase evening and weekend enforcement, and speed up auctioning or scrapping of impounded vehicles. Department of Public Works officials provided counts, operational detail and a technology plan intended to improve coordination with law enforcement.
Stacy Cloyd, a Ward 6 resident, told the committee she wanted the FY26 budget to fund increased booting and towing during evenings and weekends and to prioritize vehicles with the highest unpaid fines. "Additional booting and towing would remove dangerous vehicles from the road, encourage people to pay tickets ... and take in more revenue by having people pay off their tickets or auctioning off cars," Cloyd testified. She urged the committee to fund more enforcement staffing and to develop more efficient auction or scrappage processes.
DPW provided operational figures. Perry Fitzpatrick, agency fiscal officer, said DPW recorded 78 total impounds in FY25. Fitzpatrick also gave figures later in the hearing that he characterized as FY25 outcomes to date: 859 vehicles reclaimed, 46 auctioned and 547 scrapped. (Committee members sought clarification on those counts during questioning.)
DPW described the existing enforcement and impound pipeline: the agency reports eight booting crews with two staff per crew (16 personnel), plus three new recruits, and said boots cost about $800 each and are sometimes lost or defeated, which affects operational costs and the calculus for expanding booting. The agency noted booting generates logistical issues around storage and auction timelines: vehicles must be held for statutory periods to allow owners to reclaim them before auction or scrapping.
Technology and enforcement coordination: Attachment materials and testimony refer to planned software purchases and integration to allow DPW systems to communicate with MPD license‑plate recognition and stolen‑vehicle databases. Fitzpatrick described a planned software integration intended to create real‑time alerts between agencies so enforcement actions (impounds or boots) can be triggered more quickly.
What was decided or directed: No formal action was taken. Committee members asked DPW for specifics on tow‑lot capacity, auction timing, and the timeline for software procurement and implementation. Members also raised the potential to reduce the statutory hold period for auction through rulemaking; DPW acknowledged a rulemaking would be required to change auction timelines.
Ending: Committee members requested follow‑up data on the auction/reclaim/scrap counts and on whether booting and towing expansions would require additional capital for lot space and faster auction processes.
