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DeKalb committee reviews towing and records contract; defers fee decision for two weeks
Summary
The IRPS committee received a presentation on towing and records contracts that included tow counts, storage and auction data, staff costs and remittance receipts. The committee deferred a proposed fee change for two weeks and requested clearer recordkeeping and justification for any rate increases.
The DeKalb County IRPS Committee heard a detailed presentation from police staff on the county’s towing and records contracts and deferred action on a proposed fee increase for two weeks.
Police staff presented contract administration data for contract number 20155701 and associated record‑service providers. For calendar year 2024 staff reported impounds by precinct of: North Central 1,583, South 1,693, East 1,657 and Tucker 1,998. Year‑to‑date 2025 counts through April 28 were provided alongside those totals.
Staff noted a difference between service requests and completed tows: Brown & Brown reported 2,178 requests in 2024 that resulted in 1,583 actual tows; Statewide reported 4,563 requests that produced 1,657 tows, but the presenter said the statewide figures include auctions and tows beyond DeKalb requests. Average storage times reported in 2024 were about 20 days for Brown & Brown and 11 days for Statewide. Auction totals reported were 286 for Brown & Brown and 1,206 for Statewide, with a caveat that some statewide auctioned vehicles were not DeKalb requests.
The department supplied an approximate cost breakdown for 2024: the permits, taxi and wrecker unit logged about 1,224 staffing hours (costing about $46,512 when annualized), central records logged roughly 21,840 hours (about $502,320), and supplies and forms were about $1,687. The department’s total estimated cost to manage the contract in 2024 was about $553,519. By contrast, remittance payments collected from record companies totaled about $198,242 in 2024.
Presenters compared DeKalb’s current fees to neighboring jurisdictions. Current DeKalb fees were listed as impound $125, daily storage $15 and remittance $18. The proposal discussed in earlier materials would align DeKalb with nearby rates: impound $175, storage $30 per day and remittance $25. Commissioners asked for more clarity on the reason for the proposed increase and for better recordkeeping from the vendors if fees are raised.
Commissioner Terry moved to defer the item for two weeks with an additional staff stop; the motion passed by voice vote. Committee members asked police and procurement staff to return with clearer documentation on requests versus completed tows, remittance projections under proposed fees, and the rationale for any fee increases.
