CLEARLAKE >> In a recent Clearlake City Council meeting, the board authorized City Manager Greg Folsom to start accepting the Abandoned Vehicle Abatement (AVA) Fee to help in removal of vehicles in the city.
Currently the amount to abate vehicles is $5,000 and comes out of the general fund of the city. In this fiscal year, they had only two abatements which cost a total of $3,500, more than half of the fund.
The AVA fee was put in place in 2008 under the California vehicle Code to collect $1 in a vehicle registration fee to help fund the cost for the abatements. In 2011 the code was put on hold due to the passing of Proposition 26, which left the fee in debate on whether it fit the requirements to pass as a fee or a tax.
The County has authorized the use of the fee since it has been concluded by the Attorney General that it is a fee and not a tax and the city is looking to use that under the Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Authority.
Greg Folsom said they are able to receive money that has accumulated over the past six years.
“The next step here is that the Joint Powers Authority is going to be meeting to discuss various things as far as the allocations,” Folsom said.
The money is vital to cleaning up the city and to abate vehicles can become costly. Clearlake Mayor Russell Perdock said they will prioritize with what vehicles get taken care of with the funds they received.
“Of course we want to spend our money wisely,” Perdock said. “We had a motor home, a large RV, that had caught fire on San Juaquin and it took nearly all of our money that we set aside for this year to remove that single vehicle.”
Vice Mayor Bruno Sabatier said they are trying to go with the lowest cost to abate vehicles and get them removed, they are not trying to spend all of their money to tow. However, it is very costly to remove vehicles.
Folsom said the County has been holding the funds and has accumulated over $300,000.
“Public safety is our first priority, and that’s what we’re trying to spend the bulk of our money on tows if we have a vehicle that’s causing a health issue,” Folsom said. “However, with this other money we will be able to get rid of junk vehicles all over the place.”
